‘Two Hearted Rounder’, the new album from Sarah Lee Langford, is on a precipice. More specifically: A barstool – a place where life is messy, but the whiskey is neat.
It's here that one of her protagonists is given a proposition – one that
has her reckoning the pain of her recent past against the thrill of newfound
freedoms. More often than not, Langford's subjects take the ride – and each
song displays a progressively greater confidence, strength, and almost savage
commitment to a new life. It's liberating in more ways than one. Backed by a
gang of Birmingham, AL's greasiest rockers, including members of The Dexateens
and Vulture Whale, Two Hearted Rounder is blessed with loose limbs as well as
deadly aim. Much like Langford's own musical roots, these songs embody the best
elements of the Old
South and the New West via a well-crafted blend of Appalachian austerity, cosmic
country, and honky tonk funk that should appeal to fans of Gillian Welch, Joni
Mitchell, Loretta Lynn, and the Flying Burrito Brothers. And while the grooves
are satisfying, and the melodies indelible, it's Langford's incisive writing
that will keep listeners coming back for more. Langford clearly knows Americana
archetypes inside and out, but it's her ability to imbue them with contemporary
humor, beauty, and acidity that gives Two Hearted Rounder both a big heart and
sharp claws.