Rebecca Hall – Sunday Afternoon
New York neo-folk ballad singer and writer Rebecca Hall has been winning compliments from fellow musicians Laura Cantrell and even Roger McGuinn for her updated take on mid-to-late 1960s pop/folk sounds. Sunday Afternoon, her second album, recalls in style the acoustic guitar and strings arrangements heard first on Judy Collins’ In My Life, then on lusher turns from Leonard Cohen, and on Brit folk-rock productions from Joe Boyd. Strings as in violins and a cello, that is — not fiddles and mandos! This is material that works toward “pretty.”
While the material sometimes moves into more Appalachian American material, Hall’s British folk ties seem especially strong. Self-penned tunes such as “Lessons” and “Sculptor’s Song” suggest considerable familiarity with Sandy Denny and Nick Drake, and even the CD graphics evoke Fairport Convention conventions. There are tunes that show familiarity with country, too (with some Floyd Cramer-style piano popping up on “O Lord”, for instance).
Exactly where gritty, traditional country balladry leaves off and folk gentrification begins can be fuzzy. This is definitely not a Loretta Lynn or Blood Oranges record, but for those seeking a laid-back Sunday sound change-up, Hall’s vocals are clear, clean and soothing.