Tara Jane O’Neil – S/T

Warm, hazy and lazy Folk songs from LA’s Tara Jane O’Neil in her self-titled album. I was drawn to this record initially with it reminding me of the work of Joan Shelley and so I was both surprised and unsurprised to see her name feature in the liner notes for contributing vocals.

This body of work is the latest in a number of albums from Tara Jane O’Neil and is my first introduction to her work yet already, I feel this record will sit highly in my ‘end of year list’ come December. (wow, am I already thinking about this?). S/T is a record that is perfect for a warm summer’s day and for me, is particularly pleasant on a Sunday morning. The tracks are all very strong, with the first 5 pieces being really quite impressive indeed, if a little melancholy. Anyone who’s followed my music taste over the years will know how much I enjoy music of a melancholy nature, which is why when the happier ‘Laugh‘ comes in, I do tend to skip if I’m being honest. But it’s solid albums like this where I’ll learn to love the happier songs as much, so it’s indeed early days as I get into the habit of reaching for this album pretty much any time the sun is out.

All in all, an excellent collection of Folk songs that is best enjoyed as an album experience played in full, again, and again.