Gretchen Peters - Hello Cruel World

Gretchen Peters - Starting out as a folk/pop performer in Boulder, Colorado, the Nashville-based singer/songwriter has turned out big hits for others (including the Grammy-winning "Independence Day") as well as a series of exquisite solo albums including her last, the 2007 masterpiece Burnt Toast and Offerings...new project arrives after a period of emotional highs and lows, making Peters "rethink what is real" and inspiring an album she describes as "dark...close to the bone...fearless...brutally honest" // Release: Hello Cruel World  (January 31) // Sounds like: Co-produced by husband/musical partner Barry Walsh and guitarist Doug Lancio (John Hiatt), World also features the rhythm sections for Robert Plant's Band of Joy and the vocals of Rodney Crowell and Kim Richey...spare and sleek instrumentation and Peters' smoke-and-honey voice add warmth to songs of desperation, pain and, ultimately, hope...(watch the EPK and videos after the jump)

Quote: "Telling these stories was part of the process of stripping myself bare of all the lies, half-truths, false selves and misguided intentions we take on in the course of living. "After the trials of the past year I felt raw, open. I wanted to write songs that hurt." // What we like: "Dark Angel", a gorgeous lament with a Roy Orbison feel, epitomizes the Cruel core: rich melodic sweep drenched in sadness and emotional turmoil..."St. Francis" is classic Peters, musical phrases that take instinctively take all the right turns -- the chord progressions alone offer a primer on songwriting excellence...the title track delivers a fresh approach to Peters impressive arsenal, a staggered and soulful backbeat driving a killer guitar line and some ominous strings arrangements..."I’m a ticking clock, a losing bet, a girl without a safety net", Peters sings sweetly...and you believe each and every word...

Gretchen Peters - "St. Francis" (from Hello Cruel World)

Gretchen Peters - "Dark Angel" (w/ Rodney Crowell) (from Hello Cruel World)

Buy a signed copy of Hello Cruel World directly from the artist here...