CD review: Samantha Crain & the Midnight Shivers, “Songs in the Night”
Rock
Samantha Crain & the Midnight Shivers “Songs in the Night” (Ramseur Records)
Oklahoma singer-songwriter Samantha Crain and her band the Midnight Shivers make an auspicious debut with their first full-length album, “Songs in the Night.”
With her haunting voice and evocative songwriting, the Shawnee area native, 22, is emerging as a promising star on the freak-folk scene alongside artists such as Animal Collective, Sufjan Stevens and Joanna Newsom.
Crain’s first national release, the EP “The Confiscation,” was among my favorite albums of 2008. “Songs in the Night” maintains the balance of whimsy and earthiness she created on the EP, and Crain’s songwriting has improved, allowing her to craft lyrics that are even more literate and expressive.
Plus, she has the Midnight Shivers to help her create an intriguing and ever-shifting blend of folk, blues and indie rock. Stephen Sebastian’s electric guitar perfectly punctuates each vocal and lyrical turn on the album.
The CD starts strong with the bright, folksy ballad “Rising Open,” which opens with the lines “I will give into the dark clouds and/I will sing with the fog in my throat.”
The band offers another jaunty folk-rock ditty with the title track, an album highlight that will get toes tapping. They channel the Depression era with the slow and bluesy “Bananafish Revolution” and “Calm Down,” then tap modern-day punk-pop for the raucous “Bullfight (Change Your Mind).”
Hopefully, this excellent first LP won’t be the last from Samantha Crain & the Midnight Shivers.
- BAM
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