“It’s just this bluesy thing we do,” New York’s award-winning Linda Sussman sings halfway through her alt-folk, blues album, Win Or Lose, a collection of original songs that sings our heartache and our hope. Like brave songwriters before her, she tackles the issues of the day: common sense gun laws, women’s right to choice, and a more peaceful world in general. At times she recalls Joni Mitchell and at times the more folky Roche sisters, when she’s not all out blues.
Her adept acoustic and finger picked guitar playing is a center piece, and her voice is strong and sweet, from first song to last. She’s accompanied as well by lead guitarist Mike Nugent and bassist Kevin Kelly, who fill out her fully realized songs with color and class. “We were so weighed down by the small stuff / while the lilacs bloomed just the same,” she sings on her beautifully picked song “I Wanna Fly.” But mostly it’s the big stuff that she sings about on her album of high stakes.
“My heart is sinking / it’s drowning in tears.” It’s music that you might imagine being played in a coffee shop in NYC, perhaps, but maybe more likely at a memorial or a funeral or even a wedding, giving words and sounds to her listeners’ grief and offering grace for the journey. There’s a progressive sacredness to her songs. It’s eight songs, but you travel a good distance in the interim, and she is a seasoned songwriter, who has recorded an impressive collection of songs that touch the heart and move the soul. If you like solid folk and blues music with a female voice that is mature and stories that are accessible, you might like this soulful offering.
Prism Reviews 