Visions and Dreams

This is Carrie Newcomer's first album (the Philo Records version is a re-release — it was originally issued on Newcomer's own Windchime label). These folk songs are not particularly original — the music is textbook American folk, and her lyrics hop from predictable rhyme to predictable rhyme (way, stay; lies, disguise; arms, harm; more, door...). But those who like the genre will undoubtedly like Carrie Newcomer. For the most part, these arrangements are wisely sparse, focusing mostly on the quiet resonance of the acoustic guitars. There are exceptions — "Some Kind of Grace" opens with a dreamy acoustic loop, then spoils the mood with a kitschy kalimba — but there is a sweet intimacy to these songs nonetheless.