Reviewed by Matthew Cordle

Maeve was formed in 2001 and interestingly obtained their name from a little girl, Maeve, who danced to their music and dropped a dollar in their guitar case one day when they were playing in a subway. They are Courtney Reid, Rachel Taylor and Rollyn Zoubek, and have a melodic, lyrical sound that has been compared to the Indigo Girls and the Dixie Chicks, and also strongly reminded me of Sara Groves and Suzanne Vega. The style is distinctly acoustic, with a clarity that comes with a restrained producer's touch, and Charlie Peacock's influence is clearly present. But the crowning glory is the vocal harmonies and layering of the three ladies' voices. They weave in and out of each other in perfect balance, seemingly effortlessly, singing with both passion and control, and the sound is beautifully sweet. The instrumentation complements well, and the mandolin and banjo help to provide a light folk/country flavour. Highlights for me are the very Suzanne Vega "Just Wanna Forget" and the sultry sounding "Taking In The Sun", a positive song about exchanging brokenness for glory. "Little Bird" is also interestingly different due to it being in sort of a rock-n-roll style, but with light acoustic instrumentation. A very well crafted record.

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