For me Crow is capable of writing some of the best folk rock songs around as well as some of the worst. Fortunately this new album has more winners than losers. Opener ‘God Bless This Mess’ is a stripped down, moving beauty that sounds as though it’s been recorded in the lady’s kitchen. A simple guitar refrain is matched by a sincere, expressive vocal and lyrics against a highly melodic backdrop. Then she cleverly moves straight into heavier rock territory with the thumping rhythm of ‘Shine Over Babylon’ – a song as good as any of her past, more upbeat tempo songs. It’s a narrative of our over-consuming times and in pretty much every way hits the mark. The theme is carried on in the next track ‘Love Is Free’ although the vibe is lighter and funkier. ‘Peace Be Upon UsGasoline’ is about oil or rather its rapidly diminishing quantity and high price. It’s topical and relevant while the song is too mainstream to be taken that seriously. ‘Out Of Our Heads’ makes the same mistake in plying a really serious message in a rather light musical fashion. Yes, it’s catchy and no doubt heading for a single release, but there’s something superficial about interpreting serious lyrics (“Losing babies to genocide…”) in such a radio-friendly way. Fortunately such creative errors in judgement are few and far-between, and the album comes with a buy recommendation.

4/5