Blonde on the Tracks
| Blonde on the Tracks | |
|---|---|
| Studio album by | |
| Released | August 14, 2020 |
| Recorded | 2017-2020 |
| Studio | Magnetic Sound Studio (Nashville) and home recordings[1] |
| Genre | Alternative country |
| Length | 44:43 |
| Label | Tiny Ghost Records |
| Producer | Pat Sansone |
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Irish Times |   [2] |
| Under the Radar |   [3] |
| Morning Star | [4] |
| American Songwriter |  [5] |
Blonde on the Tracks is an album of Bob Dylan covers by Australian singer-songwriter Emma Swift. It was released August 14, 2020 by Tiny Ghost Records. Recorded between 2017 and 2020 in Nashville, Tennessee, the album was produced by Wilco's Pat Sansone and featured a number of well-known Nashville musicians as Swift's backing band, including British guitarist Robyn Hitchcock.[1]
Production
The album developed out of a long depressive period for Swift, when writing songs of her own had become increasingly difficult. Swift found listening to Dylan, and eventually singing her own version of his songs, to be "a way to have something to wake up for", she told an interviewer for the Irish Times.[2] Beyond the quality of Dylan's songwriting, Swift said in an interview with Nashville Scene that she was drawn to Dylan's "supremely confident" attitude as an artist during a time when she was acutely depressed. Swift finished six of the eight songs in 2017, working with producer Pat Sansone at Nashville's Magnetic Sound Studio, but put the project aside without releasing the songs. She was reinspired to complete the album in 2020 due to the worldwide Covid-19 quarantine as well as Dylan's own 2020 album, Rough and Rowdy Ways. Recording in home studios, Swift and her band completed two more covers, including a version of "I Contain Multitudes" from Rough and Rowdy Ways.[1]
Critical reception
The album received largely positive reviews from critics.
Mark Moody of Under the Radar called the album "truly a master class in interpretation."[3] Hal Horowitz of American Songwriter praised "Swift’s sweet, innocent, usually mellifluous voice", and called the album "a generally successful, instantly likeable meeting of voice, production and of course songs," but also felt that none of the songs were "definitive ... Swift and Sansone’s approach to these Dylan chestnuts is more toned down than you might expect or anticipate."[5] Joe Breen, writing in the Irish Times, noted the difficulty in finding something new in such an often-interpreted musician as Dylan, and said that "rarely has he been covered so tenderly as on this quietly impressive (and wittily titled) collection."[2] Brittney McKenna of Nashville Scene wrote that Swift's vocals are "at once delicate and tough, recalling the sturdy sultriness of Cat Power or Jenny Lewis far more than Dylan’s own folky rasp."[1]
Track list
All tracks are written by Bob Dylan
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Queen Jane Approximately" | 4:36 |
| 2. | "I Contain Multitudes" | 5:07 |
| 3. | "One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)" | 6:19 |
| 4. | "Simple Twist of Fate" | 4:20 |
| 5. | "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" | 11:57 |
| 6. | "The Man in Me" | 3:26 |
| 7. | "Going Going Gone" | 3:30 |
| 8. | "You're a Big Girl Now" | 5:28 |
References
- ^ a b c d McKenna, Brittney (2020-08-13). "Emma Swift Salutes Many Sides of Dylan on Blonde on the Tracks". Nashville Scene. Nashville, Tennessee. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
- ^ a b c Breen, Joe (2020-08-14). "Emma Swift: Blonde on the Tracks review – Dylan with a twist". Irish Times. Dublin. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
- ^ a b Moody, Mark (2020-08-11). "Review: Emma Swift: Blonde on the Tracks". Under the Radar. Los Angeles. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
- ^ Sinclair, Ian (2020-09-14). "Album reviews with : Latest releases from Emma Swift, Bill Callahan and Fontaines D.C." Morning Star. London. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
- ^ a b Horowitz, Hal (2020-08-14). "Emma Swift Mines Gold in Dylan's Deep Catalog". American Songwriter. Nashville, Tennessee. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
- ^ "Blonde on the Tracks - Emma Swift". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 2020-10-11.