Catie Curtis

Singer-songwriter Catie Curtis is one of those rare talents: someone
who can spin compelling, interesting and engaging music out of
domestic happiness. The title of this disc tells the whole story: fully
settled in with her partner and two kids, she looks back on earlier
heartbreaks, the joys of growing up in a rural town, coming-of-age
anxieties, and the difficulties of the modern world, and sums up her
feelings in the chorus of the title track: "It led me here to this/Sweet
life beside you." She describes the sound she was working towards on
this album as "big, warm, [and] friendly," and that's as good a
characterization as any: her folkie roots are fully audible, but what this
album really delivers is well-produced and fully-realized roots pop, on
which her sweet but unassuming vocals are buttressed by chiming
acoustic and electric guitars, understated drums, and Hammond
organ. The album's tone and quality are both remarkably consistent,
but the title track and the gently rollicking  are both highlights, while the Tin Pan Alley-ish
jars just a little bit. Also noteworthy is her restrained but quietly
intense rendition of Death Cab for Cutie's "Soul Meets Body".
Highly recommended.