Written by 
“Strong” 4 Hat Review from Smalånds Country Club, Vimmerby, Sweden
I received the most wonderful “FOUR HAT” review from the Smalånds Country Club! Below is the translated version, but if you click here you can see the cover of the magazine and my actual page (edited out of the full magazine, but yes, that is Carrie Underwood next to me!)
TRANSLATED
ANNETTE CONLON
Life, Death & the Spaces Between
Own release
4 hats (5 hats is the best you can get)
Annette Conlon is a new acquiantance for me from the American westcoast. This is her first CD. Annette is in the singer/songwriter-genre, but the music has strong influences from both bluegrass and traditional country. The CD includes 15 tracks, all written by Annette and are presented in the order that they were written, according to the booklet. This is a CD with very strong lyrics that are supported with a nice musical back-up with Annette on acoustic guitar, husband Doug Conlon, Ted Wulfers and Matt Bunsen on the other instruments.
I’ll mention some of the songs that I like that best on this 1 hour long album. It starts of with the bluegrassy “Cedar Box”. It’s then followed by the standout track “Live Like an Angel” with a fantastic steel and banjo in the background. The title track is a calm ballad in singer/songwriter style. The pace goes up in “First Suicide”. Another good song is “Without You” with plenty of banjo and mandolin. I also like “Faceless Angel” with is a softer ballad. “Ten Thousand Steps” is a little fast tune, once again with steel and banjo. Another great song is the ballad “Canyon Winds”. It’s followed by “Off the Rails” which also has an incredible ‘singing’ steel in the background. Another fast tune is “You Gave Me Wings”. The final song “Sweet Sophia” is a lovely ballad about Annette’s experiences with the last days that her sister lived, very touching lyrics.
This is a CD for you that want to LISTEN to good lyrics that are surrounded with fantastic back-up. A strong four. www.annetteconlon.com
LARS THELL
(note: Sweet Sophia is not about my sister but I welcome listeners coming to their own interpretations. The song is for anyone who has loved someone and is suffering a loss.)