Mary Lorson & Saint Low

The bright and guileless tone of the opening track, "Wait For the Sun,” belies the murky emotional depths plumbed by Mary Lorson through the course of her latest album. Lorson has grown up since her last disc and the effects of the birth of her son and her struggle with breast cancer can be heard throughout Realistic. Her songwriting has ripened, thrust into maturity by adult experiences from the sublime to the dreadful. Her sweet, light voice possesses a steely spine of life experience. The most engaging songs are the ones in which the thematic shadows are reflected in the melodies. The moody, minor-key title track is the most captivating of the bunch. Hints of jazz flow through several tracks and many of the arrangements are festooned with fluttering streamers of lap and pedal steel that give the disc a touch of that tangy alt country flavour. Lorson’s gently hypnotic piano lines and simple vocal melodies only improve with repeated listens.