Rachael Yamagata – Loose Ends

Rachael Yamagata’s excellent Happenstance was a breath of fresh air in the increasingly crowded American female singer-songwriter market. With reflective and catchy tunes it managed to expertly walk a very thin line between twee and accomplished. Since 2004, she has been quietly working away on her follow up, and as of May 2008, it still hasn’t seen a release.

Thankfully, to fill the void, Rachael has released a small selection of three new tracks that can be downloaded from her website for just $3. This set of three MP3s manages to allay any fears that Yamagata’s follow album might not meet expectations and as a taster of the sort of thing we can expect they’re excellent. In particular, Answering the Door is the standout, it is a very invocative track that pulls you in with warm vocals while The Other Side is a bit more catchy with some wonderful piano accompaniment.

Loose Ends comes highly recommended, and for just £1.50 is a steal when you consider this is new, unheard music by one of the US’ best female singer-songwriters. Buy it now!