• Band / Artist : Sarah Lemeiux – mySpace
• Genre : Blues / Roots Music
• Sample Track Download : N/A
• Buy CD : CD Baby
• Buy Digital Download : mySpace
• Rating : 8.5 out of 10

Although I have a strong penchant for female artists, it’s not often I find a female artist that adopts the blues as her choice of poison. I first heard Sarah on mySpace, listened to a few tracks and then approached her to submit her album. Once I received the album however I couldn’t quite seem to get in the right frame of mind to appreciate it. This has happened with a few albums. I know they are good, but for whatever reason, I don’t have that connection with them. It was one night, actually more like the early hours of the morning, when I put Sarah’s album on, plugged in my headphones and was just blown away. Boom, that click moment I’d been waiting for.

“Moonshine” begins the proceedings. It’s a very laid back track, with a very musically relaxed feel to it. It almost feels like a live track. “Boo-Loo-Lah Blues” is a track that I can’t help smiling to. One of the reasons, is that it reminds me of a song played on a kids cartoon show, my children watch, Peep I think it is. It’s also a track that has some wonderful guitar accompaniment. “Gliss” is certainly an interesting track, all 8 seconds of it, which I think is there more as a segway to “Le Temps…”, which as you might guess is a song all in French and is in itself a relatively short track at just under 2 minutes. “Homesick” is one of the softer tracks on the album. Musically there is a lot that reminds me of Simon and Garfunkel, but the vocals couldn’t be more different. Sarah has an incredible voice, but there are occasions where she’s forcing the lyrics, giving emphasized emotion, where it’s not needed and it’s then that they provide a distraction from the track itself. “Momma’s Got The Confusion” also has that very emotive vocal deliver, but the track itself warrants it, so it flows much better.

“Blues Stew”, as the name indicates, is a very blues infused track. It almost feels like a standard that the likes of Johns Mayall and his Blues Breakers would play. “Manhattan” has a more jazz feel to it and shows a nice alternative side to Sarahs voice. “You Keep You Warm” is an instrumental track featuring primarily acoustic guitars. It feels neither blues, nor jazz and indeed feels a little misplaced on the album, but who cares, what a wonderful track. “Enfin” is another track with French lyrics and is indeed an old French standard, unless I’m much mistaken. The vocals are a little weak for me. I would have loved to hear Sarah’s voice smolder and sizzle a bit on this one, as it has the potential to be an amazing track. Track #12, the final track… oops I’ve let the cat out of the bag. Suffice to say it’s top secret and a delight.

A final special mention has to go to the band that accompanies Sarah, the Super Blue Band. They’re musically very tight and just a joy to listen to, providing a great platform for Sarah’s voice.

Conclusion : The blues is not my usual cup of tea, but there’s something about this album I really love. Admittedly it took a while to click with me, but when it did, I was really blown away.