Kate Jacobs – You Call That Dark

In the six years since her last album, Kate Jacobs got married, had kids, and let this new disc happen as it wanted to; the recording process stretched over years.

There is a familial feeling in both the lyrics and the music. The former is evidenced in the multiple songs dealing with subjects relating to family farms, whether it be the inevitable loss of another neighbor in “Pete’s Gonna Sell” or the let-it-be advice of “Helen Has A House”, in which Jacobs remarks, “Don’t break your heart over other people’s losses/How many farms go down every spring?”

Jacobs is more of a storyteller than an activist, which explains the lack of preaching and the wealth of imagery inherent in songs that portray families and their various relations as real people with lives and losses of their own.

The musical backdrop is courtesy of much of the same Dave Schramm-led team that has participated in Jacobs’ previous projects. That familiar Schramms jangle is here on “Your Big Sister”, which cops a lick or three from Maurice Williams & the Zodiacs’ “Stay” via the Vulgar Boatmen. Shakespeare gets the Mermaid Avenue treatment on “That Time Of Year”, which pairs one of his sonnets with clarinet and banjo accompaniment for some Robert Burns-like romantic folk.

Throughout, Jacobs’ childlike voice ties it all together with a sense of melodic wonder, bringing a welcome bit of light into the world.