Josephine Foster - I'm a Dreamer

  by Paul Waller

published: 16 / 11 / 2013

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Review

Everything about this album is a pure celebration of the past. A past more distant than mine or yours, it’s an inviting take on the very origins of popular music. From the artwork to the instrumentation and through to Josephine Foster's voice itself the listener is sucked into a vortex back in time. This accuracy in authenticity would mean little if the songs were not good enough to back up such a distinct setting to hold them in. Yet this is where Foster excels. ‘Pretty Please’ features a tinny nylon strung guitar and some exquisite rolling ivories. Add to this a melody to die for and you begin to realise that this isn’t just a novelty, but an album for life. Those pianos are the secondary star on this record. Take, for example, the unusual cascading solo during ‘This Is Where the Dreams Head, Maude’, and the instrumentation is neigh on perfect. And if piano is not your thing then ‘No One’s Calling Your Name’ features minimal musical backing until Chris Scruggs' slide guitar fills the song full of melancholic country pie. If that’s not enough halfway through the album Josephine takes Rudyard Kipling’s ‘Blue Roses’ poem and turns it into the record's finest moment, quite a feat considering the quality on this thing. This is a record not just buried in time but it’s built to stand the test of time as well. Never before has Foster reached this perfection in her recordings. ‘I’m A Dreamer’ is an utterly beautiful record.

Track Listing:-

1 Sugar Pie I'm Not the Same
2 No One's Calling Your Name
3 My Wandering Heart
4 I'm a Dreamer
5 Amuse a Muse
6 Blue Roses
7 Pretty Please
8 Magenta
9 This Is Where the Dreams Head, M
10 Cabin in the Sky

Band Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/JosephineFost
http://www.josephinefoster.info/
http://www.last.fm/music/Josephine+Fos

Label Links:-

https://twitter.com/firerecordings
https://www.facebook.com/Firerecords
http://www.firerecords.com/
https://firerecords.bandcamp.com/
https://instagram.com/fire_records/
https://www.youtube.com/user/Firerecor

Have a Listen:-