Thea Gilmore

Item: Songs From the Gutter
Author: Brian A. Smith

Songs From the Gutter

(2005)

Reviewed by Brian A. Smith

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Label Compass RecordsThe Phantom Tollbooth2005

americana folk rock singer-songwriter

Thea Gilmore has been described as "gritty folk," "the best British female singer-songwriter of the last ten years", and "the most prolific and intelligent wordsmith of her generation". Songs from the Gutter grew from sessions from her last album, Avalanche, and from recordings done for a Bob Dylan tribute album. Much like Neil Young and Bill Mallonee, Gilmore's fans suffer because she is too prolific for one record company to release all of her recordings before she has moved on to multiple subsequent projects.

Songs from the Gutter is comprised of new material, concert standards, cover tunes, and unreleased material covering her nine year career. "How Did You Get So Safe?" and "Lip Reading" are phenomenally good, showing off Gilmore as a Dylan meets Miranda Stone songwriter, with slightly rougher vocals than both of them. "Heart Strings Blues" is half Indigo Girls, half Replacements.

"I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine" was recorded for the Dylan tribute, and another cover, "Cover Me," was originally done by Bruce Springsteen. "And We'll Dance," while not a cover, could have been written by Neil Young for either of his Harvest albums.

Disc two includes eleven rarities, mostly songs Gilmore performs in concert but has never laid down on disc. "Brittle Dreams" is folk rock by way of Blondie, and songs such as "Lavender Cowgirl" and "Don't Set Over the Railway Track" show her earnestness combined with wistfulness. There is also a Clash cover song as well, perhaps a lead in to Gilmore's next project, a disc of cover tunes entitled Loft Music, due out this fall.

Songs from the Gutter makes me wonder if more songwriters should take time to examine their roots, the poverty from whence many of them came. It is an interesting paradox that some of the best songs come seemingly from the worst of circumstances. Thea Gilmore is no exception.

Disc 1 -- 4 tocks. Disc 2 -- 3.5 tocks