BEST OF 2010 - #9 - KAREN ELSON "THE GHOST WHO WALKS"

Yes, she's Mrs. Jack White.  But I don't want to insult Karen Elson by suggesting that her debut album, The Ghost Who Walks, is great because of her husband, but it's easiest to get that fact out of the way first.

She has an eerie, dusty voice that sounds like it's coming from decades in the past.  She reminds me at times of Margot Timmins of The Cowboy Junkies or Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star. And she's a great songwriter. It's worth mentioning that she wrote most of the songs on her excellent debut, and the ones she co-wrote were not with her husband.  That said, he produced the record and plays drums on many of the songs, and it sounds like it.  But without the great songs at the core of the album, it would be a great sounding, but not memorable album.  That's not the deal, this one sticks with you. Here's a great review of the album by Bill Bentley, who knows what he's talking about.

Check out: "The Ghost Who Walks," "The Truth Is In The Dirt," "Pretty Babies," "Stolen Roses"