Record Review - Allysen Callery

ALLYSEN CALLERY

Winter Island/The Summer Place

Jellyfant LP

This nice slice of vinyl collects the two EPs by Rhode Island folk artist Allysen Callery, Winter Island and The Summer Place. The pieces work seamlessly as a standalone album and should introduce Callery’s style to the wider audience it deserves.

Graceful as gossamer, Callery weaves intricate folk webs with her intimate voice and understated, finger-picked guitar. Winter Island especially has strands of Joni Mitchell in it, but its heavily laced with a less identifiable ghostly aura. It’s so diaphanous that, for instance on ‘Favourite Son’, virtually every word Callery sings floats off before there’s a chance to even hear it. The Summer Place is a little more lucid – the lyrics are clearer and the music a shade more robust.

While not exactly sounding like Vashti Bunyan, Callery carries her spirit: the rare one that weathers the tender and delicate, making it strong as steel. This is a lovely record from an extremely promising new artist.

Jeanette Leech