Anyone who follows my writing will know that I am deeply in love with this series of albums from Anti-Corp, and feel it is one of the most important sets of releases there are. The concept is simple, instead of having the musician in the studio they are recorded outside, under the magnolia tree in the back yard, with the cicadas in the background. There is no room for overdubs, this is all about the singer and their music, how it was in that very moment. A guitar player by trade who also plays banjo, Angela Autumn originally hails from Zelienople, Pennsylvania but now calls Nashville home. Inspired by musicians as diverse as Joni Mitchell, Nick Drake, and Doc Watson, she discovered bluegrass when she was twenty and has made that style her own.

Switching between banjo and guitar, here we have music which could have been recorded any time in the last 100 years. It is timeless, modern yet stretching back to the roots of American music, and she allows her vocals to be on point at times, yodelling and calling at others. This album is all about being in the moment, being caught up in the emotion and truth of the stories she tells, sharing her wares with the world. When she switches to acoustic guitar there is more warmth than the staccato approach of the banjo, and here she comes across more as a modern singer/songwriter than the bluegrass of old, and perfectly fits in either style. She has a voice which captures the imagination and combined with her lyrics and music it takes the listener through space and time to the Appalachian mountains. As with the rest of the albums in this series, a sense of honesty and reality pervades the music and the recording, and when the cicadas disappear as we move from one song to the next it is like a reset of the mind, as one has been brought so totally into the world of the performer. Yet another simply essential release from Anti-Corp.

Rating: 9/10

Links:
https://www.angelaautumn.com
https://anticorporatemusic.com