Jenee Halstead

"Jenee Halstead - This album’s opening track, Before I Go, is slightly misleading, in that it suggests this will be a pleasant enough album of country music that skips prettily along the surface of things. The next track, Deep Dark Sea, reveals the true identity of an album that, in the words of the title track, chooses to “embrace the undertow”. The River Grace focuses on uncertainty and despair, murder and suicide. Yet, while the Boston-based Halstead is a songwriter unafraid to deal with life’s great tragedies and awkward compromises, her real strength, on this debut album, lies in her voice. Halstead’s singing packs the emotional punch of Emmylou Harris and will keep you hooked: even in those stretches where you’re not sure what she’s singing about, it’s clear that it matters." ME