A soft-spoken sequel.
Amanda DeBoer Bartlett has appeared on many albums and has just released her second solo album, Braided Together, consisting of 13 songs that are soft and calming. Bartlett shows off her whimsical folk demeanor as this album flows through as a very easy listen with little change.
Slight strums and winding strings starting out “Storm” gives the beginning of the album its personality. “Storm” showcases, without question, Bartlett’s folksy feel. This song will easily be danced at a Renaissance festival.
Slowing and smoothing things down, “Skyscraper” has a jazzy piano tone as Bartlett shows off her classically trained voice falling into vibratos as her tone plays right on with the bass and rhythm guitar. “You find me the clouds, lift me, my feet feel so dead on the ground” is belted in a chest voice that magnetizes the skyscraper visual of the song.
“Lincoln Highway” is a sweet-sounding piece with flutes and soft piano. This piece does well with building throughout the entire song. While the phrase “Meet me on the Lincoln Highway” gets repetitive, her emotion changes to help bring different messages.
The title track, “Braided Together,” is at a whisper. This is a letter to Bartlett’s mother, singing gently about how different they are and how strong they both have to be in their lives – her mother being braided to her.
“Cherry Blossom” is fully up to the interpretation of change and time passing as Bartlett sings, “If you saw me again how you saw me back then, it would feel like a snow globe, shaking and falling and shaking and falling.”
One noticeable thing about Braided Together is the repetition of lines in the majority of her songs. Amanda DeBoer Bartlett is not writing this album to be exciting, it is extremely mellow and for listeners who are looking to sit in peace.
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