You’ve Got Me In A Knot

Erin Durant “Alone With You”

I don’t love leading with “recommended if you like” when discussing relatively unknown artists, it can feel like I’m diminishing them, but in the interest of being a service to you, a possibly impatient reader: If you like Joanna Newsom, you will almost certainly like this. I can’t imagine that Erin Durant is not a big Newsom fan; it seems difficult to arrive at a song like “Alone With You” without that being a crucial influence. And obviously this is 100% praise, because writing and singing like Joanna Newsom is a very high bar to clear. And other comparisons are similarly flattering: her vocal style is closer to that of Nanci Griffith and Sandy Denny.

As with a lot of Newsom’s music, “Alone With You” is almost too beautiful to handle. The production by TV on the Radio’s Kyp Malone is dry, earthy, and understated, but there’s something inherently fancy about this type of melody. To play it too often would be like the musical equivalent of always eating off the fine china. There’s an intense feeling in this music, a love that burns so bright that it hurts a little. But sometimes that’s exactly how you feel and this is what you need.

Buy it from Bandcamp.