Michele Stodart - Wide-Eyed Crossing

Michele Stodart, recently of the dual sibling Brit pop/rockers The Magic Numbers with her brother Romeo, heads out on her own with the self-released, self-produced Wide-Eyed Crossing, just out in the U.K. and now available digitally in the U.S. With assistance from engineer Phil Brown (Talk Talk, Beth Gibbons, Joni Mitchell), the multi-instrumentalist Stodart explores low-flame folk/pop and Americana with a countrified, occasionally jazzy twist. We're enamored of the sumptuous and gently upbeat "Take Your Loving Back" and Stodart's appealing, unmannered vocals on the cleverly constructed "List of Don'ts", a track transformed from twinkling ballad into gorgeous, brass soaked New Orleans reverie. But one of the nicest suprises might be "Invitation to the Blues", a duet featuring Conor O'Brien of DC faves Villagers.

Michele Stodart - "Take Your Loving Back" (from Wide-Eyed Crossing)

Michele Stodart - "Invitation to the Blues" (from Wide-Eyed Crossing)