Sarah MacDougall - The Greatest Ones Alive

  by Malcolm Carter

published: 28 / 9 / 2011

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Review

Swedish-born but Canadian-based Sarah MacDougall’s debut ‘Across the Atlantic’ was very warmly received a year or so back. Her pop-tinged folk music was full of hooks, lyrically strong and in an already overcrowded market MacDougall’s confident and distinctive vocals helped her stand out from the crowd. MacDougall produced that debut herself which, considering her still young years and the fact that her production skills were still in the early stage, made that album even more impressive. It was, simply, hard to fault any song on ‘Across the Atlantic’, and the months between the release of that debut and MacDougall’s new album, ‘The Greatest Ones Alive’ has been a period where the appeal of those songs has just grown and grown. So great things were expected of this follow-up, and within seconds of the opening song, ‘Sometimes You Lose, Sometimes You Win’, starting a smile crosses the face. MacDougall’s acoustic guitar opens the song creating the perfect atmosphere immediately and then that voice comes in; warm, inviting and unmistakably Sarah MacDougall with the words, “Some people put their lives into a dream?/I put my life inside a song”, the smile widens at what must be the most honest opening lines of a song we’ve heard in some time. Lyrically it’s a song about losing but MacDougall’s words inspire you to keep trying, to keep moving. The song illustrates all that is not just good but exceptional about MacDougall’s lyrics ,but couple that with one of her most compelling melodies (and she’s written more than a few) and the atmospheric production (this time MacDougall co-produces the album with Matt Rogers for the most part and Bob Hamilton on a pair of songs and she’s lost none of those skills she displayed on her debut; the production of this collection of songs is faultless) and it’s the perfect way to introduce her new album. There are so many female singer/songwriters just now that many seem to just blend in with each other. It’s getting increasingly hard to tell one from another especially vocally. MacDougall has her own voice, her own sound. As soon as the following song, ‘It’s My Place!(and I want it!)', which is one of MacDougall’s sing-along pieces that must surely be this albums ‘Cry Wolf’ when she performs it on stage, it’s apparent that, strong as the songs were on ‘Across the Atlantic’, ‘The Greatest Ones Alive’ is MacDougall’s best work to date. The title song, which is the third song on the album, recalls MacDougall’s childhood playing in the woods in Sweden, the sadness at losing touch with those we were once close to and the difficulty making that call as months turn into years. It’s another one of MacDougall’s songs that almost everyone can relate to and even though her lyrics are shaded with sadness on this particular track again the sweet melody will have you singing along. The warmth of the production will make you feel you’ve found that old friend once again. It’s an outstanding song and, like on her previous album, MacDougall has chosen the best song for the title of the album. While ‘The Greatest Ones Alive’ is very nearly the perfect album with outstanding production, immaculate playing and moving lyrics, MacDougall’s vocals still steal the show. Without wishing to take anything away from her composing skills and her seemingly natural gift for producing it’s MacDougall’s voice that still haunts long after the album has finished. Take what appears to be a simple love song on first hearing, ‘Mmm’, just MacDougall making a rare appearance on electric guitar singing single lines interspersed with the title of the song, it’s possibly the most immediately affecting song on the album and that’s all down to those distinctive, warm vocals. The more you hear it the more you fall in love with that voice. Has MacDougall ever sounded more soulful in song than when she sings, “You make me the best I can be”? It will send chills down your spine. Initially ‘Across the Atlantic’ dipped in a couple of places, but with the quality of the songs, performance and production any shortcomings were quickly forgotten; apart from a short interlude, ‘Unwork’, which is the end of a longer piece MacDougall wrote for string quartet, ‘The Greatest Ones Alive’ is an outstanding album from start to finish. The touching ‘Cold Night’ written for a lost love, the moving closer, ‘We’re All Gonna Blow Away’ which MacDougall dedicates to her late Grandmother, each and every one of these songs is a winner. ‘The Greatest Ones Alive’ is MacDougall at her very best. Let’s just hope she stops touring just long enough to record another batch of songs as good as this before too long.

Track Listing:-

1 Sometimes You Lose, Sometimes You Win
2 It's My Place! (And I Want It!)
3 The Greatest Ones Alive
4 Permafrost
5 Mmm
6 It's A Storm! (What's Going On?)
7 Song #43
8 Unwork
9 Cold Night
10 We're All Gonna Blow Away

Band Links:-

https://twitter.com/sarahmacdougall?la
http://sarahmacdougall.com/
https://www.facebook.com/sarahmacdouga