Starlight Hotel
by Zoe Muth and the Lost High Rollers

$12.99

Whether nailing an upbeat honky-tonk tune or a slow, sad story-song, Zoe Muth’s music is so honest and familiar, you’ll wonder why you haven’t heard it yet. Her self-titled, self-released debut won attention not only from her hometown (Seattle Weekly dubbed her “our own Emmylou”; tastemaker blog Sound on the Sound called her “without doubt, one of the finest songwriters in Seattle”) it also earned praise from the worldwide press. The record landed on No Depression’s annual Reader’s Poll as one of the Top 50 Albums of 2009, while Modern Acoustic magazine called her 2010’s “New Artist of the Year.”

On its follow-up, Starlight Hotel (produced by Muth and Martin Feveyear at Seattle’s Jupiter Studios), you can almost feel the wheels turning under the pickup truck. Picture an old country road, flat land on either side and a whole lot of nothing out the window. The mood of the music – and Muth’s narrative lyrics – captures a stark honesty that recalls some of the finest country classics. In fact, there’s so much spirit of Merle and Hank in these tunes (sung in an earnest tone reminiscent of Iris DeMent), it’s easy to forget they were actually realized in the lush green of western Washington State.

Tracks

1. I've Been Gone

2. Whatever's Left

3. Let's Just Be Friends for Tonight

4. Before the Night Is Gone

5. Harvest Moon Blues

6. New Mexico

7. If I Can't Trust You With A Quarter (How Can I Trust You With My Heart?)

8. Tired Worker's Song

9. Starlight Hotel

10. Come Inside