Rise
Nashville's loss is Kim Richey's gain. Though she has written chart-topping hits forRadney FosterandTrisha Yearwoodand pursued a recording career on the fringes of the country mainstream, her fourth and best album sounds like a fresh start. It certainly doesn't sound like contemporary country, as the artist and producer Bill Bottrell (who helmed similarly creative breakthroughs bySheryl CrowandShelby Lynne) collaborate on a sensually bluesy song cycle that shows a determination to defy categorization, follow its own musical dictates, and find its own audience. The album-opening "Girl in a Car" sounds like it could have been a highlight forLucinda Williams, while the languid atmospherics of "Fading," "Without You," and "Reel Me In" have a seductive intimacy that is equal parts torch song and lullaby. From the Wurlitzer organ on "The Circus Song" to the bouzouki that lends an Eastern tinge to "This Love" and "Electric Green" (the latter written and sung withPete Droge), the stripped-down arrangements accent the freshness of the material.--Don McLeese