Liz Janes and Create(!)

After two albums that stretched her in many unusual ways, Liz Janes teamed up with Create (!) for this set of lo-fi recordings of songs in the public domain. There is no irony here. Just a desire to find new paths with the same old traditionals while remaining true to their emotive underpinnings. With only acoustic instruments and recorded in a one room shack, it lives up to its setting. “Lonesome Valley” adds succulent harmonies that slowly draw themselves out over the notes, while a banjo tickles the background. “Be My Husband” slowly opens and features menacing whispers. “All the Pretty Horses” is a solid drone with Janes playing Nico with her haunted vocals gently peeking out over the buzz. “Jesus Is a Dying Bed-Maker” is pure pop by comparison. “Run, Old Jeremiah / Keep Your Hands on the Plow” claps along like a mutated field song. “Careless Love” ends things with instruments working as found sound. In some ways, it’s her best recording.