Brigitte DeMeyer - Something After All (2006)

Brigitte DeMeyer is one of many singer/songwriters working on the edge of the commercial scene in the post-millennium, stylistically somewhere between folk and country. With her potent vocals and country-folk musical palette, DeMeyer has appeal to fans of alternative country (she even covers Steve Earle and Buddy and Julie Miller here) and soulful blues singers like Bonnie Raitt and Toni Price on Something After All. Despite her talent, DeMeyer's dilemma is how to stand out in a crowded field of singer/songwriters who cover similar material in a similar way. One of the nice things about Something After All is its strong material that benefits from a sense of popcraft. It isn't that songs like "Honey Darlin'" sound like pop, but that DeMeyer -- borrowing a groove that could've come from an early Little Feat album -- knows how to write a good hook and keep her songs tuneful. With the help of a couple collaborators here and there, she smartly keeps most of her songs under four minutes, writes singable choruses, and doesn't use the same flavored arrangement from song to song. To keep things interesting, she also throws in a duet with Buddy Miller on "You Wrecked Up My Heart" and includes a couple of nicely delivered ballads. Something After All is a finely wrought country-folk album.