Dori Freeman

Dori Freeman is a singer-songwriter from the town of Galax, Virginia – a tiny place in the Appalachian mountains and she sees herself as part of that region's singer-songwriter tradition. Yet Freeman is not one of the young American throwbacks who dress and sound like a Carter Family 78. Instead, she's unfussy, relaxed and direct; her ten original songs demonstrate a songwriter with a keen sense of the yearning human heart. Produced by British musician Teddy Thompson, he keeps Freeman's voice up front and, having assembled a crack band behind her, smooths out the cracks a little too much (think Norah Jones rather than Lucinda Williams).

Which is a pity. Freeman's plaintive voice and down-home style means the most successful songs here are those the least adorned – straight country ballads such as ‘You Say’ and ‘Go on Lovin’’, or the a capella protest of ‘Ain’t Nobody’. They tend to diminish in emotional power as cocktail jazz piano turns them into slick, easy-listening ballads. Also, as Freeman tends to specialise in lovelorn ballads, this short album lacks dynamics. She's talented, no doubt, but claims that Freeman is the new Loretta Lynn are overstated right now.