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When
I'm gone
Maybe you will hear this song
I'll be singing it to you
Somewhere in the blue
But I won't be coming home
And we all must leave alone
But I'll leave this song for you
Somewhere in the blue
Somewhere
In The Blue |
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All
Emily's songs are available to download at iTunes
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'Stranger
Place'
Emily's stunning debut album is still available
to order while stocks last. Hear song-clips,
read lyrics and order your copy here.
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Click
here
for Emily's photo-diary
recording 'Keep Walking'
Aug-Nov
2006
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Click
here
for
the story and photos of the making of 'Stranger Place'
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ALBUM
REVIEWS |
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| Daily
Express (UK) |
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Call
her a folk singer or singer/songwriter, Emily
Maguire’s debut album is an unashamedly
emotional collection of songs.The album deals
with a 10-year period of virtual immobility
resulting from a car crash. Maguire, who now
lives with her snake in a tin shack in the Australian
bush, has a voice that slips between the hushed
and sultry and the brightness of a Brill Building
starlet.
[Robert Spellman]
4 stars |
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| Financial
Times (UK) |
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Emily
Maguire, a Cambridge-born singer turned Australian
goat farmer, has found herself catapulted to the
foothills of fame by this, her second album. 'Keep
Walking' collects songs of survival, as in the
title track's taxonomy of "better days and
wetter days/red-letter days"; what lifts
it above other singer-songwriter strum is her
grasp of dynamics, rising from folky murmurs to
anthemic stadium choruses in the space of a few
bars. "Someday", set in a field on the
Isle of Purbeck, shows this gift at its best.
4/5 stars |
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| Courier
Mail (Australia) |
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Emily
Maguire is a lovely singer who sits comfortably
in the new folk movement, spearheaded by her fellow
Englishwoman Thea Gilmore. But Maguire now lives
in a shack on a Kenilworth goat farm in the Sunshine
Coast hinterland which gives her a different perspective
and perhaps a crisper sound.
Like Gilmore, this is infectious stuff that grows
with every listening, opening up more intriguing
and engaging lyrical byways and some just right
poppy hooks. Her own introduction to pop-folk
is apparent (she is a classically trained cellist
who mastered guitar from Bob Marley songbooks)
but it’s her gorgeously understated vocal
and dramatically arresting lyrics that get under
your skin.
From the weekend party narrative of the title
track (“She’s high Sunday night/Another
line will see the light”) to the very funky
and direct TV To Take It Away (“There’s
bills to be paid and plans to be laid/Trinkets
to trade and lands to invade”) you can dip
into this like a magnificent Turkish mezze sprawling
across a lunch table or pack it away for a picnic-for-one
in a spot of rare beauty just for yourself. Another
reason to believe there is a folk revival going
on and it’s worth your attention.
[Dennis Atkins] |
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| Indie-Music.Com
(USA) |
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| It's
a good time for female singer-songwriters at the
moment – from Mandi Perkins to Brandi Carlile,
there's finally a reason to replace the Tracy
Chapman CD on your stereo. With her latest self-produced
album Keep Walking, English-born Emily Maguire
can add her name to this impressive roll call.
Now living in
Australia with her partner Christian Dunham
(with whom she runs the record label Shaktu
Records, through which this album is released,
and who plays bass on the album), Maguire lists
her three main influences as Bach, Bob Marley
and Buddha. Far from having a fixation with
the letter B, it's the perfect description of
her music – classical, talking-to-the-people
storytelling, sitting on just the right side
of relaxation.
"Something"
introduces you to the world of Maguire, and
there are far worse ways to begin a journey.
With a voice that mixes the best of Joni Mitchell
and British songstress Dido, it's a lilting
reminder of how fleeting moments in life can
be. When she sings,
Cos something
has happened
Like a tear in the corner of my eye
Something in the air, I'm so scared
Of the endless, friendless goodbyes ...
it's with the
knowledge that we all can relate exactly to
what she's singing.
Title track
"Keep Walking" is a wonderful cross
mixture of an upbeat melody tied to a darker
lyric, which tells of a woman who needs cocaine
to make sense of her life, even though she knows
it could easily end that very life with one
bad line. As Maguire herself states,
But she's high
Sunday night
Another line will see the light ...
And you know something's got to change ...
Yet as much
as her strength lies in slower-paced eulogies,
Maguire also knows how to pick up both the pace
and the mood with songs like "Standing."
Opening with a guitar riff not too dissimilar
to the Lou Gramm classic "Midnight Blue,"
it's a message full of hope and how remaining
positive, even on the darkest days, is what
we should all strive for.
Using an enchanting
combination of cello and violin with the more
traditional instruments of choice, Maguire is
able to at once sound familiar yet different.
And it's these instruments that make tracks
like "TV To Take It Away" all the
more powerful, with its warning about television
desensitizing us to the true horrors around
us, with the despondent opening lyrics
People keep
dying on TV and I don't know where
I should be crying but somehow I just don't
care ...
This
is the beauty of Emily Maguire's music –
in one instant she can be assaying us with the
sweetest melody, yet in another she can be breaking
our hearts with nary a care. With a coveted
slot at the Cambridge Folk Festival this July
in the UK, as well as Keep Walking picking up
airplay in her adopted Australia, it's a bittersweet
love affair that others may soon start to covet,
and deservedly so.
[Danny Brown]
www.indie-music.com
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| Folk
& Acoustic Music Exchange (USA) |
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"And
there's kids to be raised / and soldiers to slay
/ Preachers to pray / And TV to take it all away".
With lyrics like that, Maguire instantly becomes
an artist to listen for. And one can easily hear
why she's getting the buzz throughout the UK and
her adoptive Australian wilds. No sir, this isn't
college girl journal entries. This isn't your
standard singer/songwriter stuff that the world
sucks and woe, woe, woe. Maguire thinks these
things out, and though she may not offer solutions
(c'mon, she's human after-all) she does offer
camaraderie, that we're in it together and together
we'll make a difference.
Besides her lyrics, what I appreciate most about
Maguire is that you can't pin her influences down.
You'll hear a lot of contemporary and the greats
of the past in her music, but it's never derivative.
"Cos your life is a loan you can't pay /
You're providing for kids you can't save"
she offers on the effortlessly melodic All That
You Wanted. From the uplifting title track we
have this everyday, though poetic observation:
"And there'll be better days and wetter days
/ Red-letter days, you pray there's nothing wrong".
Bassist Christian Dunham and drummer Shane Nesic
provide Maguire a spacious and rhythmic palette
for her invigorating vocals, full guitar, and
one woman string ensemble. A classically trained
cellist and pianist, Maguire understands how music
moves the listener, and never fails to do so.
[Mike Jurkovic]
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| Babble
And Beat (USA) |
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Emily
Maguire is an extremely gifted English singer-songwriter-instrumentalist
based on a farm in the Australian bush. ‘Keep
Walking’ is her 2nd album.
Emily’s voice is gorgeous! Think of Tracey
Thorn’s (Everything But The Girl), Dido’s
and Paula Cole’s vocals equally mixed.
The lyrics are candid, warm, and endearingly
heart-on-sleeve. The musical arrangements are
lovely as well… and they convey emotion
& depth just as much as Emily does vocally
and lyrically. Christian Dunham plays the bass,
Shane Nesic plays the drums and Emily plays
the cello, viola and violin.
All 12 tracks are pleasing but my personal favorites
on ‘Keep Walking’ are:
All That You Wanted’ put a lump in my
throat and brought tears to my eyes. This track
is absolutely beautiful but at the same time
it’s a powerful song about desperation
and disappointment. This is such a personal
song, and was obviously written about someone
specific, but I’m confident that this
track would strike a personal chord with anyone
at some level and at some point in their lives.
‘One Good Thing’ – I really
love this track! It’s more rock n’
roll than the others and although it’s
about heartbreak it sheds some insight in a
humorous way.
‘TV To Take It All Away’ –
For me, this song shakes you into thinking about
your reality: what’s really important,
time that’s been wasted, and deceit versus
truth.
‘Passing By’, ‘Wanted’,
'Keep Walking', and ‘Back Home’
are other highlights.
[Stacy Sardelli]
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| Folk
& Acoustic Music Exchange (USA) |
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Three
totally killer songs kick off Maguire's debut.
The throbbing The Real World; the utterly transcendent
The Borderline ("If we are like water then
which drop is me") and the captivating
If I Could See You.
Think
about that for a sec. Any singer/songwriter
would readily revisit Robert's crossroads to
sign a deal with the devil for an introductory
salvo like that. Add the extremely sad fact
that most artists today won't have three killer
tunes in a lifetime and you can see and hear
how far ahead of the game you are with Stranger
Place.
Though
it's easier here to spot her influences (Ani
DiFranco, Sarah McLachlan, Natalie Merchant)
than on her equally fine and defining follow-up
Keep Walking, Maguire's striking, real world
lyricism renders Sarah and Natalie mute, while
her emotionally textured arrangements—brought
to life by bassist Christian Dunham and drummer
Shane Nesic—never wander into Ani-like
self indulgence.
Best listened to as a complete work of intelligent
passion, other haunt-your-head tracks include
Somebody, I Thought I Saw, Love Song and Stranger
Place.
[Mike
Jurkovic]
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| Spiral
Earth (UK) |
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We
all take decisions to follow certain paths in
life everyday. One such day Emily Maguire decided
to give up her London flat and head for a shack
in the Australian outback. Whilst based there
she recorded her debut album the aptly named 'Stranger
Place.' It proved to be a wise decision as it
established her as a critically acclaimed artist
down under. Then following a tour back in blighty
Emily returned to her new home to record 'Keep
Walking.'
Initially the albums breezy facade betrays the
fact that copious amounts of planning and playing
went into this. Emily drew on existing skills
as a trained pianist and cellist, then with borrowed
violin and viola she creates her own string ensemble.
Recruiting a bassist and a drummer to compliment
her own guitar and voice completed the desired
set.
'Keep Walking' the title track has already been
playlisted on Australia's ABC radio. It warrants
its place there displaying plenty of commercial
muscle. Emily says her intention was to 'give
people the same feeling you get when you go and
look at the horizon above the sea and you get
a sense of silence, space and possibility.'
Striving to fulfil this mission Emily does highlight
some hefty universal themes of struggle, love
and loss. This tends to work to best effect when
her lyrics are more oblique. 'Back Home' benefits
from some thoughtful moments,
'So I go with the river, go where the river goes.
And I flow with the river, I Know what the river
knows.'
Whereas when tackling more topical matters on
'TV To Take Away' things become a little to literal.
Not unlike a news report. There's also a slight
tendency to fall for some obvious words in the
form of light, night, fight. Not enough though
to really detract from what are songs that could
be helping Emily into the mainstream spotlight.
Evolutionary dots could easily be joined from
Joni Mitchell to Suzanne Vega to 'Keep Walking.'
There's Joni's love of Jazz and Suzanne's jagged
guitar lines all in one sassy package. It's ultimate
strength lies in when the best elements converge.
'Someday' has the ideal swell of strings and longing
lyrics that could move the most hardened cynic.
Emily Maguire doesn't attempt to re-invent the
wheel. And why should she? There's already plenty
of attention coming her way. We all sometimes
need a sense of silence, space and possibility
don't we?
[Dave Kushar]
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| Collected
Sounds (USA) |
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First
I want to thank Emily Maguire and every other
artist who includes his or her lyrics in the liner
notes. I love to sit down with a record on the
first listen and read along with the music. It
somehow makes it so personal and intimate. This
way I am able to really pay attention to the lyrics
instead of thinking, 'oh that maybe sounded cool,
what did she say?'. So I got to listen to this
one the way I most enjoy. Headphones, and lyrics
in hand.
"Passing By" is a lovely song that has
some funky rhythm stuff going on. Then Emily's
sweet subtle voice enters and it's magical. You're
sucked in. Fuggetabouttit. The more I listen to
this track the more I like it. It's especially
good on headphones.
According to her site, she is classically trained
in piano and cello, added violin and viola and
recorded all the parts herself to create her own
string section. I tell ya, the cello and other
strings really add to these songs.
"TV to Take it All Away" is a powerful
song about how we know things are happening (war,
hunger, crime) but it's still kind of removed
from us so we can ignore it. Even if just a little.
It's kind of got an eerie feeling. "Back
Home" has some lovely harmonies that really
show case her warm and comforting voice.
This whole recording is very solid. While there
are songs I like more than others they are all
good and special in their own way. This is a great
collection of songs and Emily Maguire is a class
act.
[Amy Lotsberg]
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| Womenfolk
(USA) |
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Operating her own record label from a charming
shack within the Australian bush, one will find
the lovely Emily Maguire.
Classically trained as both a cellist and pianist
and self-taught with a guitar, Maguire eventually
grew tired of the grey skies of London and uprooted
her life to the countryside of Queensland, Australia,
where she continued to write her songs and prepared
for the release of her first album.
Stranger Place arrived in 2004 on her own, Shaktu
Records, and won wide critical acclaim throughout
Australia and opened the door to some prestigious
venues. Most notable perhaps was opening for Gail
Ann Dorsey, renowned bassist for David Bowie.
She would then spend the next couple of years
touring in support of Stranger Place, much throughout
the U.K. and Australia.
Last year, Maguire encorporated violin, viola
and cello into the recording of her follow-up,
and literally became her own string ensemble,
rounding out a sound that is made complete with
the talents of bassist Christian Dunham and drummer
Shane Nesic.
'Keep Walking' arrived earlier this year and has
quickly made its impression. Following its launch
in New York, ABC Radio in Australia quickly added
the title-track track to its national playlist
and Maguire has already booked another tour for
the summer to support the record.
Dense with emotion and rich with thought-provoking
lyrics, 'Keep Walking' is a sublime album to experience.
Maguire’s voice possesses that rare timbre
that gracefully streamlines its accompanying melody.
It soars beautifully in the socially conscience
‘TV To Take It Away’ and carries the
uplifting energy in the motivating ‘Keep
Walking.’ On ‘Passing By,’ a
listener can sense a tinge of mystery and eerieness,
much in part to the song’s beautiful strings
and Maguire’s cool delivery. And on ‘Wanted,’
Maguire’s cello seeps a deep hum that can
easily instill chills. It doesn’t take long
to realize you’re listening to something
truly great.
This year will no doubt be a special one for Emily
Maguire. She’s currently scheduled to attend
the Cambridge Folk Festival in July and is planning
an acoustic tour during the fall throughout the
U.K. Hopefully, her growing audience of North
American fans will have an opportunity to hear
this remarkable songwriter in person. But until
then, they have two incredible albums to enjoy
by this incredibly gifted artist.
[Robbie
McCown]
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| IndepenDisc
Music Club [New York] Issue
#93 |
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One
of the things I really enjoy, and don’t
get the time to do often enough, is sitting down,
throwing on the headphones, and getting totally
lost in the music and lyrics of an artist that
goes leaps and bounds beyond. Emily Maguire is
fabulous.
'Keep
Walking' by Emily Maguire is an album that mixes
hard, realistic social commentary from the perspective
of one whose fragile state of mind will not be
tied down to the norm and the acceptable response
to which may or may not be under one’s control,
with amazing musical construction built around
electric acoustic guitar, bass, drums and strings.
Using studio production that is astounding and
string arrangements that ring every drop of emotion
from the songs, Emily (vocals, guitars & strings)
and Christian Dunham (bass) have fashioned a decades
and genre spanning piece of work that should be
admired as a whole as much as for each individual
song. Rounding out this group is Shane Nesic (drums),
who has been playing with Christian as a rhythm
section for over 20 years, and they fit Emily
like a glove. Here, the tightness of the players
resounds throughout; there is nary a wander as
they drive the music and arrangements for maximum
effect.
Packaging
individual perspectives of everyday problems -
from the most intimate to those experienced in
general by all - Maguire and Co. touch us with
the harrowing torment that these situations can
produce. They do this all from the mindset of
an individual who, at times, can be pushed to
the edge. Yet, it is the expression of these conflicting
scenarios and the solutions presented that push
our involvement to a higher level than that of
your average 3 minute pop song. Mixing a Suzanne
Vega/Beth Orton type vocal/vocal arrangement with
a solid writing sensibility a la Joni Mitchell/Joan
Baez, while at times skirting Portishead territory,
this album doesn’t let up until the final
note.
Anchoring
the CD, 'TV To Take It Away' lays out the decline/fall
of mankind and TV’s role in not only bringing
it to us, but also how it is there to convince
us to ignore it. Using rich tribal drums with
a powerful backbeat bass staying underneath to
lend even more power to the acoustic picking,
a tone of dire straights is set before the shallow
echo of a distant, unattached vocal mocks the
oblivious and the privileged in a social protest
that haunts and shames us into further evaluating
our social/global/human conscious.
“And there’s kids to be raised / And
soldiers to slay /
Preachers to pray / And TV to take it all away”
“yes, it’s all OK / And it’s
all alright /
yes, it’s all right.”
Built around this are 11 more songs that are each
of significant importance to the overall make
up of the album. The Title Track, 'Keep Walking',
has an uplifting, mystical sound that celebrates
the solace in a walk that also bears its own set
of problems. 'Passing By' uses an ancient Gaelic
sound with a downbeat backbeat to express the
narrator’s questioning of the possible cruelty
of God, and how it burdens the mind of a good
person. In contrast, 'Standing' offers us an anthem
to the spirit of man. Soaring, angelic backing
vocals add chills to this feel-good, Champion-the-Heart,
homage to those who weather the storm and can
still stand and raise their fist high in the air.
'Lately' is an edgy Eleanor Rigby with string
arrangements that echo ELO style classical leanings
in a rock sensibility. It uses an operetta vocal
(which Freddie Mercury would give anything to
come back and perform) to throw it in the face
of an ex who she’s not going to stick around
for. While, 'Wanted' builds the perfect beast
with Christian and Shane’s solid rhythm
section underscoring Emily’s drenching vocals
and by using a Cello and resounding electronic
accents to construct a paranoid schizophrenic
view of the need for solitude and the need to
be loved. And, 'One Good Thing' breaks out a secret
agent sinister, Talking Heads minimalist approach
that channels both Grace Slick (Jefferson Airplane)
and Martha Davis (The Motels) in a song about
almost losing it. Where, just when you think it’s
going over the edge, they pull it back again,
perfectly mirroring the plot.
'All That You Wanted' is where the brilliance
of Emily Maguire (along with Christian and Shane)
breaks through and shines with a passion that
is simply astounding. The intense music and powerful
vocals get the song caught in your throat and
bring a tear to the eye. Its tragic beauty has
the ability to choke you up in a manner reserved
for weddings and funerals. Then, 'Back Home' continues
the poetic beauty of song with a nod to the circle
of life. Gorgeous acoustic picking brings forth
a flow that leads to a final chorus of double
tracked harmony that needs to be heard to be appreciated.
I can find no words to describe its exquisiteness.
One of the things I really enjoy, and don’t
get the time to do often enough, is going to a
club to see, hear, and get totally lost in the
music and lyrics of an artist that goes leaps
and bounds beyond. I had the pleasure of attending
the CD release party for Keep Walking by Emily
Maguire.
Emily Maguire is Fabulous.
[Gary Vollono]
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| Time
Off Magazine [Australia] |
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Bass-heavy
drumming and questioning lyrics set a dark tone
on album opener ‘The Real World’,
but there are many moments of genuine light on
Emily Maguire’s Stranger Place.
In fact, there’s a strong sense of mortality
and spirituality throughout the English born,
Sunshine Coast-based singer/songwriter’s
record. Maguire sings of existence (‘The
Borderline’), the slow decay of society
(‘I Turned On The News’) and devotion
(‘Falling On My Feet’). Rich, organic
sounds dominate, as do Maguire’s strong
vocals, which sit prominently in the mix.
Acoustic folk-pop is the order of the day, but
Maguire plays around enough with the genre to
keep it appealing. ‘The Borderline’
and ‘On The Radio’, for instance,
strip things back to a gentle lull, while ‘You
Do’ incorporates a Latin guitar feel. ‘I
Thought I Saw’ is a pop highlight, a rare
instant hit among a collection of songs that are
likely to prove themselves more as time goes by.
[Sarah Jones]
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| Scene
Magazine [Australia] |
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She
has the kind of vocals that will melt your stereo.
Emily Maguire came to Australia for a holiday
last year and hasn't left.
Taking time out to record in Australia, she has
released a smouldering hard-hitting and socially
aware album. Breathless and slinky, her voice
is similar to that of Sarah Harmer, Sinead O'Connor
and Joni Mitchell.
Blending her love of classical music (she is classically
trained on cello, piano and flute) with passion
for beautiful poetry, this singer-songwriter has
released an organic album with simple acoustic
riffs ('The Borderline' and 'On The Radio') and
bluesy melodies ['Stranger Place'].
If she doesn't melt your stereo, she's sure to
melt your heart.
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| Tsunami
Magazine [Australia] |
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In
direct contrast to the girly-pop schmaltz currently
infesting the airwaves, Stranger Place
combines wisdom, hard hitting social commentary
and beautiful poetry.
Strong, thought-provoking lyrics are the focal
point, with bass, drums, multiple guitars and
haunting cello painting a vivd background of musical
imagery. Although often referred to as a female
Bob Dylan in lyrical terms, her musical influences
range from Beethoven to Bob Marley via Joni Mitchell.
In so many ways Stranger Place defies categorisation,
spanning musical boundaries instead. From this
debut album of original songs, it is clear that
Emily Maguire is a consummate artist.
[Lark]
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| Beat
Magazine [Australia] |
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When
you listen to Stranger Place, you can feel the
pureness and passion with which it was produced
and completed. It is an observation, a story,
and a hauntingly beautiful melodic voyage through
the ebbs and flows of an individual's existence
in this world.
An
English singer-songwriter now living in the
'back of beyond', Maguire's style is a mixture
of funky jazzy blues with some Joni Mitchell,
Paula Cole and Natalie Merchant-style sounds.
Stranger
Place is definitely worth checking out if you
enjoy a female acoustic sound with strong focus
on the words and melody. And anyone who teaches
themselves to play guitar using Bob Marley songbooks
has got to be good!
[Jessica Ball]
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