Tango
Anyone who's seen Patty Larkin live knows how striking her guitar playing is.  What's not often noted is how many fine contemporary folk songs she's penned, how they stand up on their own merits of melody and language.  With her third studio album, Larkin carves out an artistic domain of elegant but simply clothed acoustic images, and features all originals, stories of journeys spiritual and actual, love's responsibilites and regrets.  Her skill with arrangement and words even makes the unwieldy theme of chemical pollution ("Metal Drums") haunting and personal.--Roy Francis Kasten