It's been more than two years since the last album from Stef Chura. In that time, the singer-songwriter has refined her craft, such that the tunes on her new record, Midnight, out this Friday via Saddle Creek, seem somehow more affecting, more precise.
Opener "All I Do Is Lie" reveals a debt owed to Aimee Mann, while the even better "They'll Never" kicks up a nice, nearly-twang-y racket. Elsewhere, Stef lays bare her soul on selections like "Sincerely Yours" and the languid "Degrees", numbers that build up methodically. At her very best here, Stef Chura manages to channel stuff like Emmylou Harris, especially on the rust-bucket folk of "Sweet Sweet Midnight", a confessional tune that also echoes the sort of rare music once made by Mary Margaret O'Hara. Throughout Midnight, Stef alternates between a few compositions that are simple and direct, and a few others where things feel like they are about to come (gloriously) unraveled. It's on those rougher tracks that Chura's appeal is really found.
Midnight is out on Friday via Saddle Creek.
More details on Stef Chura via her official website, or from her official Facebook page.
[Photo: Chloe Sells]