New England singer-songwriter Colleen Sexton follows up her acclaimed debut, Step Outside, with Greatest Find, a winning collection of mostly original songs. Many of the tracks open with or are punctuated by great guitar hooks placed front and center in the mix. The general lyrical theme here is relationships — budding, thriving, and failed. Sexton’s versatile voice allows her to move confidently from upbeat numbers like the opening track, “Got You on My Mind”, to bluesy torch songs like “Golden Treasure”, and even allows her to pull off the vocal-and-bongos closing track “Wild Bird in a Purple Plum”.
The tempo shifts from track to track, but Greatest Find keeps coming back to the groove, which makes it a good choice for driving in the car. Sexton’s voice and guitar are backed by an excellent cast of musicians, including noted folkies Jesse Zubot and Steve Dawson on violin and guitar, respectively. Zubot’s double-stopped fiddle adds a kind of Cajun touch to the bluesy “Golden Treasure”, and his eerie violin lines work beautifully in the somewhat funky and heavily charged “Old Days.”
Producer Randy Labbe creates a different mood for each song — accentuating the tough slide guitar and spooky fiddle parts on “Never Needed (Bus Ride Song)”, the meaty bass lines on “Golden Treasure”, and the heavily reverbed electric slide guitar on “Old Days”. Percussionist Elliott Polsky contributes a lot to this recording, but MVP in the backup band should probably go to Tim Kelly for his right-on-the-mark Dobro lines on such songs as “Mean Streak”, “School Days”, and “Golden Treasure”.
The track most likely to catch ears is the moving gospel number, “School Days.” It starts off with a simple, repetitive guitar line, includes a soulful Dobro part, and features beautiful backup vocals by Sexton and her older brother Martin, whose powerful pipes and inimitable style have made him a star in the folk world.
Other highlights include “Never Needed (Bus Ride Song)” and “Mean Streak”, a lovely, loping tune that gets better with each listen. It showcases Sexton’s pure singing voice and features sisterly harmonies on the chorus by Janis Ian.
— Simone Solondz
New England singer-songwriter Colleen Sexton follows up her acclaimed debut, Step Outside, with Greatest Find, a winning collection of mostly original songs. Many of the tracks open with or are punctuated by great guitar hooks placed front and center in the mix. The general lyrical theme here is relationships — budding, thriving, and failed. Sexton’s versatile voice allows her to move confidently from upbeat numbers like the opening track, “Got You on My Mind”, to bluesy torch songs like “Golden Treasure”, and even allows her to pull off the vocal-and-bongos closing track “Wild Bird in a Purple Plum”.