The Thousands

Frankly, we’ve had a glut of female singer/songwriters lately. Which is a shame, as some of this year’s terrific releases from the ladies (Emiliana Torrini, St. Vincent, Juana Molina, Amaya Laucirica) may get lost amidst the mediocre Bjork wannabes.

Hopefully Boys – the sophomore release from Nashville’s Cortney Tidwell – won’t get lost amongst the deluge. From the smoky lounge opener ‘Solid State’ to the spacey drone of ‘Oslo’, Tidwell covers a wide breadth of sounds, with strong-yet-subtle emotions, incorporating shoegaze, trip-hop, folk and electronica in the mix.**One of the nicest aspects of Boys is the way Tidwell allows her voice to share space equally with the orchestration. This is not a singer whose ego necessitates a chain of vocal acrobatics atop some meager ‘backing band’. This is an artist determined to build a cohesive wall of sound.