Edith Frost
Telescopic
Drag City 1998

It’s a mystery to me why she isn’t a minor star, but there you are, she’s utterly obscure, in Britain at least. This is country, in a singer-songwriter way, sung in a wonderful voice that’s somewhere between Patsy Cline and Cat Power: resonant and quirky with a range that swoops beautifully into the deeper notes.

Musically it’s fairly sparse (hmm, a word that’s cropping up a lot in these reviews), with electric or acoustic guitar, a bit of percussion, sometimes violin or harmonica. It’s produced by Mr and Mrs Royal Trux, credited here as Adam and Eve, and I love what they’ve done with it. Sometimes it’s fairly straight up, sometimes there’s more of a buzz in the effects and sometimes, as on ‘Through the Trees’, the original instrument has almost disappeared, leaving just a residue like radio interference.

I like the lyrics, too. Mostly it’s the feminine territory of relationships, but she puts a good, sinister edge in there: ‘Better watch your step, you’ll be putting my heart on hold... you’ll be jumping in deep hot water...’ (‘On Hold’). And who could resist the jaunty tune with which she sings ‘You’ll be lonely with your lover... you’ll be lonely with yourself... you’ll always be lonely’ (‘You Belong to No one’)? Actually, some people seem to be able to resist it quite well. Of those I’ve played it to, there’s been a definite love/hate divide along female/male lines.

She’s also a bit scary. She comes from Texas, one of her hobbies is tracing her family tree and in the acknowledgements on her new album, Wonder Wonder, she thanks God first. She runs her own website.

A big recommendation.