Birdie Busch - Pattern of Saturn (2009)

Tracklist

01. Penny Arcade
02. Bordertown (Song for Gabino)
03. Tenderoni
04. Passwords
05. Hey Precious
06. Pattern of Saturn
07. Roll It
08. Lampshade
09. Hometown Boredom
10. The Sweetheart Age
11. Two Cents

Birdie Busch's third album - her first to be self-released following two records for Bar/None - is another fine helping of cozy, abundantly warm-spirited folk-pop. Not too much has changed for the West Philadelphia songstress this time around: she's still working with more or less the same affably rootsy band that backed up her up on Penny Arcade (a title that she coincidentally recycles for this album's opening cut), still seeking simplicity (and searching for love) while pondering the complexities of a life lived somewhere in between the tangible and the ineffable. Pattern of Saturn is a modest offering -- a mere nine songs (and two brief instrumentals) lasting a short, sweet 33 minutes -- but it's easily her best collection yet. Every one of these tunes is an absolute charmer, brimming with soul, tunefulness, and a compellingly youthful wisdom. Ranging from the spirited romantic antics of Roll It (a sidelong glance at a saucy suitor), the gee-whiz clip-clop of Tenderoni, and the rollicking album standout Bordertown (a love song for immigrant kitchen workers, with a chorus for the ages) to more contemplative cuts like Passwords (a rumination on the oddly intimate aspects of Internet security) and the subdued Lampshade (a bluesy ballad of resignation that contains the quietly devastating line I tried not to write this song), the whole affair is relaxed, heartfelt, and tremendously inviting. This is truly one to cherish.

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