Emily McLoud’s latest record, ‘Sugar Shine’ is one of the easiest and warmest listens you’ll have the pleasure of going through this month. There’s a simplicity to the entire record, from the themes explored and the arrangements delivered. Emily’s voice is ever so subtle, a kind of delicate breeze that guides you into a better place with seemingly effortless ease. The 6 songs see Emily offer her thoughts and feelings on the passage of time, of the nature of opposites, and the redemption that can be found in day-to-day living.
From the opening piece on ‘So They Say’ itself, I was delightfully swayed into the sheer blissful calmness that Sugar Shine as an album is able to put you in. There’s never a single moment where you find yourself feeling detached or seeing a moment of darkness seep in. Each song carries with it seemingly simple yet indescribably intricate acoustic melodies to it, a kind of outward approachability embedded in the melody. While songs like Ain’t as It Seems and Disguise offer a sense of escape and rumination on the nature of life itself, it’s really on the titular track itself that I found Emily McLoud at her utmost best as both a songwriter and singer. There’s a level of composure and evocativeness to her performance here, and a clear sense of melodic direction in the way the acoustic guitar is let to have moments of its own throughout the piece.
Any Americana fan will find this record a sheer delight to go through. It’s truly a treat to the ears that’s bound to leave you feeling at least a bit better than where you were when you picked it up.