The Sound of You & Me

Album Review

Garrison Starr remained on a steady, unspectacular singer/songwriter path with her fifth album, recorded after her relocation from Los Angeles to Nashville. Teetering relationships are often the subject, with the opening cut even bearing the title "Pendulum." The melodies, singing, and arrangements are rather standard issue for this sort of thing, though some variations from the usual format let listeners know it's not being phoned in. Beyond its unusual title, "Sing It Like a Victim" has a rollicking rhythm and, for the first time on a Starr record, piano-dominated accompaniment. "Big Enough" has dramatic strings that are, at least in terms of Starr's usual fare, a stylistic departure. But while the emotional sincerity of the record can't be questioned, and it establishes an atmosphere of lingering introspection and striving for fulfillment, there's nothing to suggest a rise from mid-pack status.