Straight To Your Town
Rubia, 2022
9/10
Listen to Straight To Your Town
The San Francisco native and singer-songwriter Leland Ettinger returns with the Silver Wells, who help her illuminate a dreamy, psychedelic and nostalgic vision of very thoughtful song craft.
“What Comes Around” starts the listen with firm drums and warm piano, as Leland’s distinct, inviting pipes guide the very unique version of folk-rock, and “Love Is Blind” follows with a breezy, retro sound that would right at home in the ‘60s and embraces strings.
“A Drink” occupies the middle spot, and benefits from harmonic backing vocals in the precisely layered album highlight, while “Saving Grace” pairs mature piano with soaring vocals before the orchestral strings and hazy rock sounds populate the unpredictable landscape.
Advancing towards the end, “Story Of Love” brings some gritty electric guitar to the classic rock nods, and “The Blue Sea” exits the listen with excellent use of winds to complement the multi-faceted and timeless songwriting.
It’s not hard to think of legends like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell when listening to Straight To Your Town, which I think we can all agree is a very good thing. However, Leland’s atypical poeticism and eclectic view of song structure certainly puts her in a league all her own on this very charming record where half of the songs were recorded in a single live session, and the remainder were tracked online.
Travels well with: Leland And The Silver Wells- Leland And The Silver Wells; Lost In The Trees- A Church That Fits Our Needs