Michelle Anthony - Tornadoes

Choosing Tornadoes as the title of her third album might make you think that Austin performing songwriter Michelle Anthony had emerged from a fairly tumultuous period in her life -- and you'd be right. But she also describes Tornadoes (November 2) as a "thankful" record, a theme that shines through her new songs like an unwavering beam of light. Following the birth of her child, Anthony was afflicted by a life-threatening illness, a difficult time made even more harrowing as she contemplated the possibility of not being there for her young son. Survival brought joyful relief but as she returned to the studio for the first time in four years she realized that the experience in all of its emotional depths and plateaus was profoundly affecting.

A Texas transplant by way of Milwaukee, Anthony brings to her music as much unmannered heartland pop energy as Austin-inflected twang. Lead track "Spare Me" sounds as if Chrissie Hynde had opted to front Fleetwood Mac instead of the Pretenders, a steady rhythmic pulse giving way to a glistening shower of chiming guitars, fuzz-toned bass lines and Anthony's crystalline vocal harmonies. "Permanent", one of four songs written for her son, moves with an Aimee Mann/Sarah McLachlan vocal intonation and catchy chorus hook. But it's the title track that most purely exemplifies the best of Tornadoes: exquisitely turned melodic phrases that ring gracefully, forcefully but without a trace of showy pretense.

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Michelle Anthony - "Spare Me" (from Tornadoes)

Michelle Anthony - "Tornadoes" (from Tornadoes)

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