Annie Crane

Annie Crane's second album, Jump with a Child's Heart, is filled with warm guitar and her bandmates' liberal use of cello (Sarah Bowman), trumpet (Jason Benjamin) and the constant pitter-patter of floor tom (Frank Hoier). The beat is constant throughout, kind of like the heart of a child. The entire package sounds like an upstate New York version of Basia Bulat. Crane's soprano is strong and sweet, lending itself beautifully to her songs. In fact, there's very little on her second effort that couldn't be described as darling. But don't let the adorable qualities of this collection of songs fool you; her ballads are steeped in literary and mythological themes, and although the songs are sweet and beautiful, they hail a time only our grand parents would remember. The album's opener, and title track, rushes forward with a chilly, plaintive quality fit for a northern Minnesotan coal miner's daughter. "Hell's Gate," an ethereal tale of Leviathan, the mythical creature that guards the gates of Hell and haunts the rhymes of mariners of yore, is the album's standout song, while the Dustbowl impressions of "Money Only Hates Me" add to the timelessness of the entire album. Crane, who has already in her career shared a stage with the great Emmylou Harris, has released an album that will undoubtedly serve as a great beacon of her potential.