Winnipeg’s country/roots quartet Oh My Darling’s second album Sweet Nostalgia was recorded in a straw-bale house in Roseisle, Man. and it is perfect for a good, old-fashioned barn raising. Album opener Anna K chugs along like the train Miss Karenina is waiting for. Things slow down as fall comes upon us in Cage Bird, seemingly narrating this time of year when “something makes the birds fly south”. Roust About, the first song the girls played together as a band, according to the liner notes, has some great banjo picking and a real soulful quality to the lyrics. Overall, the album is upbeat and up-tempo. My favourite cut is Kiss & Tell, a traditional that the girls made their own. With the awesome lyrics “I don’t cuss and I don’t fight, I just run with some girls that might,” it seems like the perfect theme song for a bunch of girls that can play their instruments and make their music their own.

Published in Volume 66, Number 6 of The Uniter (October 5, 2011)