ARTIST: Garrison Starr TITLE: The Sound Of You + Me LABEL: Vanguard Records GENRE: Rock BITRATE: 191kbps avg PLAYTIME: 0h 44min total RELEASE DATE: 2006-03-14 RIP DATE: 2006-03-08 Track List ---------- 01. Pendulum 4:05 02. Let Me In 3:48 03. Sing It Like A Victim 4:29 04. Pretending 3:33 05. Big Enough 5:17 06. Beautiful In Los Angeles 3:57 07. Kansas City, Kansas 4:25 08. Black And White 2:38 09. Cigarettes And Spearmint 4:19 10. No Man's Land 3:42 11. We Were Just Boys And Girls 4:25 Release Notes: Garrison Starr is single-minded in her songwriting. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. The Mississippi-born singer writes almost solely about matters of the heart. The idea of songwriting as therapy? Personified. Whatever works – Starr is damn effective in her mission. Think a Southern, slightly poppier Melissa Etheridge – raw emotions, splintered hearts and a woman unabashedly unapologetic about shedding tears in public. The Sound of You and Me finally shows an artist starting to enjoy noticeable growth. After exiling herself from the music industry for seven years, Starr reemerged with 2002’s Songs From Take-Off to Landing, probably her best to date and followed it with Airstreams & Satellites in 2004. Each is a compelling listen on its own, but when played consecutively it’s obvious that Starr is only now challenging herself to her complete potential. The Sound of You and Me makes it easy to get lost in Starr’s gorgeous, soaring melodies all over again. “Sing It Like a Victim” is one of her best yet, and both the languid “Cigarettes and Spearmint” and triumphant “Beautiful in Los Angeles” are locks to make it onto upcoming romantic comedy soundtracks. Like any time a songwriter truly begins to stretch her muscles, there are minor missteps here, but The Sound of You and Me seems to be a heartening hint at even better things to come.