Susan James returns with her third album since her hiatus to allow her time to raise her family and with Sea Glass it seems Susan has delivered her classiest album to date.
Americana / Country have been to tone of her last two fine albums, Highways, Ghosts, Hearts & Home from 2011 and Driving Toward The Sun in 2013.
Based in California, Susan’s album Sea Glass seems the equivalent of Jane Weaver’s Silver Globe over here in the U.K. An artist that has made consistently good music who, with a slight tweak of style finds more deserved recognition. Jane turned the Psych button up and Susan, has taken a more progressive and jazzy style to Sea Glass.
Orchestral string arrangements abound as the layer on which Susan’s divine vocals sit. Working closely with her longtime friend Sean O’Hagan of The High Llamas the record has a rich instrumental landscape of strings, flutes, harpsichords, keyboards, horn, marimba and Susan’s excellent vocal arrangements.
The songs are expansive with Susan’s soaring voice. Songs like ‘Poseidon's Daughter’, ‘Ay Manzanita’ and Odyssea 1201echo Annie Haslam of Renaissance. Whilst songs like Hey Julianne and Calico Valley could appear quite happily on a movie soundtrack.
Title track ‘Sea Glass’ evokes any lady of the canyon. It’s a beautiful song.
An album written and produced by Susan herself is a major step on the road to hopefully some long warranted recognition for this fine artist.
Pete
10/11
Poseidon's Daughter
Awful Lot
Hey Julianne
Calico Valley
Ay Manzanita
Odyssea 1201
Sea Glass
Truth Or Consequence
Tell Me Cosmo
Last Song