Intimacy has been a specialty of
Courtney Marie Andrews
since her 2008 debut, but the singer/songwriter raises the stakes on
Old Flowers
, her 2020 album, and second record for
Fat Possum
. Inspired by a particularly painful breakup,
Andrews
wrote a song cycle where the tunes are connected by wistful regret and accentuated by the occasional glimmer of hope. Nothing on
moves particularly fast, and the arrangements are deliberately hushed, inviting the listener to lean in to hear the particulars of her sorrow.
recounts this sadness with precision -- these are wordy heartbreak songs -- but the gentle sway she,
James Krivchenia
, and
Matthew Davidson
create with producer
Andrew Sarlo
functions as something of a balm; it's melancholy but soothing. In some respects,
could be called a shade too successful, since it casts a specific understated spell, but listened to in the right mood or hour of the day, it's a bewitching affair. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine