Thea Gilmore has had some good press and it is not difficulty to see (or hear) why. Her voice is clear and expressive and she knows her way around a song. We therefore approached this 4 track EP with some degree of enthusiasm.
"Teacher, Teacher" is one slick, catchy, daytime radio tune and the super shiny production highlights that fact. "Are You Ready?" followed on in a similar vein adding quasi-political lyrics for end user credibility. Again, a worthy song but perhaps too slickly presented for its message .It did concern me at this point that this EP was sounding like those "New Country" albums that came out of Nashville in the nineties. In fact, this Bluesbunny had to check that he had not put an old Mindy McCready CD into the player by mistake.
Now, "Icarus Wind" is a different kettle of fish. There was a nice poetic feel to this one and the production was altogether more sympathetic giving Ms Gilmore's voice the space it needs to shine. The EP ends with a version of the traditional song "The Parting Glass" and most affecting her performance is too diverting the listener completely from the strange echoing noises in the background. Thea Gilmore has a voice that is truly entrancing but she finds herself saddled with unsympathetic production here. Still worth a listen, though, especially for "Icarus Wind".