Krista Green
Album: Stepping Stones
Label: Self Released
Tracks: 11
Website: http://www.kristagreen.co.uk

How wrong can you get? Cynical old buzzard that I am, at first when listening to this, my ears said "uh-oh"' another mannered sub-Lily Allen sort of groove. But "Stepping Stones" the new album from Krista Green is so much better than that. I listened to it driving down to London from Derbyshire Hills to do a radio session and somewhere just past Warwick - singing (bellowing?) along to the track 'Bellies Full of Booze" it hit me - "this is great!"

It's fresh feisty and fun which is what you should expect from an album that alongside the ubiquitous guitar, bass and drums features cello, ukulele trumpets and flugelhorn. (I have always had a soft spot for flugelhorn for reasons which I can't really fathom).

Perhaps it's hailing from the sunny shores of Dorset but Krista Green writes songs that kind of smile at you even when the subject is not necessarily happy-go-lucky. Stepping Stones also benefits from Krista's ability to ensure that the album features much more in the way of changes in pace and dynamics than you might find in much stuff around at the moment.

I bet this sounds great live.

Steve Bonham