Rosanne Cash
Album: The River & The Thread
Label: Decca/Blue Note
Tracks: 14
Website: http://www.rosannecash.com/

"The River & The Thread" is Rosanne Cash's first album since her 2009 smash "The List" which saw her exploring a series of songs recommended to her by her dad, Johnny Cash. In many ways this new album, her first for Decca/Blue Note, sees her exploring the South of sharecropping, this time with husband/producer John Leventhal, who along with Cash co-wrote the bulk of the album.

Rosanne admits it took time to get over "The List" with so many great songs still going around in her head there was a need to give her own compositions a space to breathe and breathe they did as well as taking in influence from the locations and people that inspired them.

The title also seems to reflect both the region and impact "The River" taking inspiration from the importance of rivers on the region whilst "The Thread" as well as alluding to the way life and rivers weave is actually a quite literal reference to a friend that taught her to sow.

Rosanne draws in quite a few friends to guest on the album, John Prine, Alison Moorer and Rodney Crowell, to name but three, but none of that detracts from the key focus of the album, the songs. Regardless of whether they are about people or places, they are beautifully crafted, one of the reasons why you can spend hours with "The River And The Thread".

This is an album rich in the tapestry of life, life lived and life located. It doesn't detract from the history of the region area, the darker side of the South is featured as well as redemption. Whilst people talk about the Wild West, the South had a good few moments of its own and it's already looking like "The River & The Thread" is up there with the best of them.

Neil King