Christine Santelli - Any Better Time (2009)

Tracklist

01. Good Day for a Hangin'
02. Guilty
03. Ponytails
04. Any Better Time
05. Down In the Valley
06. Butterfly
07. Calgary
08. Lily's Song
09. Brown Haired Girl
10. Ode to Bill
11. For You
12. Sparrow
13. On the Farm

On her seventh CD, blues-rocker Christine Santelli shows off her stylistic versatility with a varied program that includes a couple of excursions into country, a nod to New Orleans, a strange and carnivalesuqe number, and plenty of straight-up roots rock. The focus here is on her voice, which is interesting: at its best, it's a dark, smoky, and richly textured instrument, while at its worst it can be almost painfully scratchy and raw. Santelli's songwriting is grittily mature, and on highlight tracks like the sultry "Guilty," the softly gorgeous "Brown Haired Girl," and the straightforward blues-rock of "Sparrow," the vulnerability of the lyrics and her intimate vocal delivery come together perfectly. Her sidemen are also worth noting; Tim Tindall's basslines are self-effacing but utterly perfect on "Butterfly," and Brian Mitchell's barrelhouse piano adds a very nice swamp-boogie element to the title track. "Calgary" is built on a minimal and lovely arrangement that showcases Santelli's voice at its roughest, an effect that detracts from the song in a few places, and the album-closing "On the Farm" sounds almost like a Hee Haw parody. But for the most part, this album is a solid roots rock winner.

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