Val Storey is consultant of a brand new breed of feminine Nashville singers who’re unencumbered by stylistic straitjackets. Somewhat than hidebound to nation or Americana music, their far-reaching forays into the Twentieth-century songbook cross style strains whereas retaining an inside consistency that turns into an indicator of their artwork. Storey’s sophomore album launch Share Your Secrets and techniques with Me options 13 songs that contact on acquainted Nashville sounds as penned by iconic figures reminiscent of Larry Cordle (additionally the album’s producer), Emmylou Harris, Del McCoury, and Nanci Griffith, however has the required boldness to the touch on pop songwriters reminiscent of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and even Hoagy Carmichael. She sounds at residence with every of those disparate types and makes the fabric her personal by way of sheer expertise and persona.

Songs such because the album opener “Songbird” make that clear. It’s a shocking option to start the album because it highlights almost the entire components of her voice that make her so enticing. Her vocal phrasing tailors itself to the tune’s wants with eloquent effortlessness that makes the efficiency sound born fairly than crafted. She follows this opener with an equally transferring rendition of Nanci Griffith’s “Love on the 5 and Dime” which revisits this sterling traditional for contemporary audiences with excessive model. She doesn’t enable herself even a second to coast. It’s an unmitigated pleasure to listen to how utterly she integrates herself into the tune’s world.

Del McCoury’s “I Really feel the Blues Movin’ In” turns listeners in a unique route. She’s simply as residence with the language of the blues as she is with nation and different Americana types. The tune’s slide guitar acts as an efficient duet “companion” for her voice, and he or she incorporates sufficient gravel and grit into her singing to make for a dramatic creative union. “Skylark” is one other head-turning 180 as she delves into Hoagy Carmichael’s again catalog for a spirited heavyweight efficiency of this early Twentieth-century pop traditional. Her voice reaches unparalleled heights right here and wrings each obtainable emotional drop out of the tune.

“Much less of Me” is without doubt one of the album’s best examples of songwriting. She revives the Glen Campbell traditional and its timeless classes for us with appreciable verve and sensitivity to the tune’s calls for. It has one of many album’s best lyrics, phrases that everybody can relate to. The sprightly musical accompaniment offers it extra bounce. “Midnight Fireplace” is one other cowl, this time turning to Steve Wariner’s work, and he or she hits the mark with a modern and impassioned tackle the nation legend’s traditional.

Share Your Secrets and techniques with Me is rife with songs reminiscent of this. You’ll not discover any filler. Val Storey has thought-about the fabric included on the album with a pointy creative eye and ear and her selections repay with considered one of 2023’s most satisfying releases. Her expertise as a vocalist, songwriter, and performer are on full show over the course of the album’s 13 songs and it leaves you a bit of in awe of the place she will be able to go subsequent. 

Mindy McCall