Review: Audra Mae, The Happiest Lamb
The Happiest Lamb
Artist: Audra Mae
Genre: Folk-Pop, maybe Alt-Country?
Year: 2010
One of my unwritten New Year’s Resolutions is to read a new book and listen to a new album every month and write about it, with extra points if the book or album is outside of my typical comfort zone. While The Happiest Lamb is definitely not outside of my comfort zone, it is a good album by an artist you’ve probably never heard of and should listen to if you share my musical tastes. Though if you watch Sons of Anarchy, she did a cover of “Forever Young” for an episode. She’s also Judy Garland’s great-grandniece and wrote the one original song on the Susan Boyle album.
The album is fantastic and slightly hard to classify. You can hear the folk-country-blues influence, especially in the songs where she’s telling some sort of story. But it’s the Patty Griffin strain of folk-country as compared to pop-country or even classic, Patsy Cline-style country. Thoughtful, maybe a little bit precious if you want to overthink some of the metaphors, like the extended one of the title track, but overall delightful. The only trick is that Audra Mae like Patty Griffin appeals to the, “I don’t usually listen to country, but…” crowd which also makes Mae a tough sell.
That’s a pity because Mae is also great at her pop beats. “The Happiest Lamb” may have a slightly precious metaphor, but the melody and upbeat keep it from being that. Instead the music is fun and smart at the same time, maybe even rollicking. Plus, given Mae’s from Oklahoma, she feels very original in an indie world with a lot of coastal folk without being over-the-top about it.
In the end, this album has just replaced another really amazing female artist on my iPod’s constant listen (Janelle Monae’s The ArchAndroid, an album that grows on you until you’re like, “whoa, this IS really good”) and I’m grateful for TJ Horn of the Army of Broken Toys recommending it to his sister/my roommate so I could get earwormed by it.
Listen: “The Happiest Lamb”
