The female voice is a wondrous thing in my opinion. It can make more of even the most mundane lyrics than you could reasonably expect. Not that any of the lyrics on “Dream Catcher” are mundane – far from it – but Sarah Louise Owen has a voice that makes them resonate in your consciousness.
Though often allegorical, the songs on this album are mostly concerned with telling love’s oft told tale. That’s no bad thing, however, when you can deliver a controlled dose of heartfelt melodrama to convince the listener that all is actually of reality rather than contrived illusion and that’s exactly what Sarah Louise Owen does. On a big piano led ballad like “The Last Kiss”, for example, she demonstrates a controlled dignity in her presentation that is positively refreshing in these times of over the top Saturday night theatricality. She likewise puts not a foot wrong as she walks the Americana trail with “These Walls” where underplaying the emotions creates the very authenticity that a song such as this needs.
There are lighter, quirkier, songs too with “Fireworks” easily earning its place on your mantelpiece next to that picture of Kate Nash but it is on the songs that are destined to go large that Sarah Louise Owen really shines with “Broken Hearted World” earning its place in the spotlight. That’s why you’ve got a heart, after all.
“Dream Catcher” is the kind of album that many would class as a nice easy listen and that is by no means an insult.