I hate to admit it, but I’ve never heard Emily Hurd before. The reason I feel bad about that is that this is Hurd’s seventh album and she’s from my hometown. Sure, I knew the name, but just had never been exposed to the music before. Well, I can now say that Emily Hurd is very talented. She has a great voice and this collection of music that blends folk and pop is quite strong. From here on out I’ll need to follow her career more closely.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2012  Volume 1 at lulu.com/strangesound.

Piano brings this in, but then it works out to a folk styled tune that’s got hints of country music in the vocal performance.

There’s a bit of an R & B based styling to this tune. It’s also got hints of country. It’s a bouncy and fun number that has a lot more energy than the previous tune.

Piano and voice opens this and holds it without additional instrumentation for quite a while. Eventually it fills out, but overall this is a powerful ballad that’s pretty and evocative. It’s also got a lot of interesting vocal layers. The violin later in the piece brings some country to the table again.

There’s a lot more energy in this number, another that has a real retro pop rock sound. The vocals to this one really have a lot of country stylings built into them. This is one of the highlights of the disc mainly because it feels so much different than everything else.