Search - Catherine Feeny :: Hurricane Glass

Hurricane Catherine

Stephen Doig | New Zealand | 11/19/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Catherine Feeny made me a fan on hearing one song - the lovely, woozy `Touch Back Down', which just happens to be the first song you'll encounter on Hurricane Glass, the follow-up record to Feeny's 2003 debut. The remaining 9 tracks took just a little longer to sink in, but what repeated plays of Hurricane Glass reveal, is that Feeny already has a wonderful mastery and control of intimate but radiant folk-pop. In this respect, she recalls one of her major influences - Joni Mitchell, as well as such acclaimed artists as Sheryl Crow, Edie Brickell and Tracy Chapman.



Not only a talented songwriter and guitarist, Catherine Feeny is also blessed with the kind of voice that is almost too good to be true - impossibly sensual - it oozes warmth, character, and sweetness. Needless to say, it must be something akin to heaven to be on the receiving end of her whispered sweet-nothings. Her lyrics frequently touch on love and relationships, but they also extend to personal struggles and disillusionment at her native USA. On that note, interestingly, she has now relocated to Norfolk, England.



On the aforementioned lead-off track `Touch Back Down' Feeny pleads to a distant lover "touch back down will you......let me look at you". It's a glorious call to rekindle the flames of love and contains the sort of melody that is somehow both soothing and invigorating. It remains my favourite Catherine Feeny song at time of writing, though that is subject to change as Hurricane Glass is likely to get a fair hammering in the months, and, most likely, years to come. There are plenty of other contenders besides, with the playful but poignant `Mr Blue', the delicate, beautifully woven melody of `Hush Now', and the breezy, toetapping `Always Tonight' - which brings to mind the sunnier side of Rickie Lee Jones. Another undoubted highlight is the compelling and scathing `Unsteady Ground' in which Feeny expresses her alarm and disgust over the Bush administration, conservative American media, and the `war' on Iraq.



Hurricane Glass is an impeccable collection of thoughtful, well-crafted songs and Catherine Feeny has reminded me again of just how dazzling tuneful pop performed well can be.



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Gogol | England | 07/24/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is realy a great CD. It starts out a little slow but there are some realy great tracks on this. 'Mr Blue' has a strong Beatles influence while 'There is always tonight' has an upbeat feel guitars and vocals played well while the acoustic 'Hush now' is just beatiful!



These are realy great lyrics to match great music, great guitars adn great vocals. It is a real pity that this is so expensive on amazon as this album realy needs to be better known. Fans of Norah Jones will like this one. This is a CD for those who like slow mellow music, sometimes upbeat, sometimes emotional but great to listen to."