Kevin Bronson on May 6th, 2014

0

It’s been 10 years since Gina Villalobos broke through as one of most distinctive voices in alt-country with her debut “Rock ’N’ Roll Pony,” an album she followed with three more collections of smart, nuanced songs that fit like a wool sweater against the chilly drafts of duplicity. After 2009’s rapturous “Days on Their Side [available for free here], though, Villalobos reached a crossroads. Suffering burnout, she stepped away from making music, eventually (and curiously) finding a spark by enrolling in a community college music program. Her first album in five years, “Sola,” finds her diving back into her musical soul-searching. The seven-song collection features a host of players with impressive resumés – guitarist Josh Grange (KD Lang, Dwight Yoakam), pedal steel player Eric Heywood (Son Volt, Ray LaMontagne), bassist Ian Walker (Lang, the Ditty Bops) and drummer Quinn (Tracy Chapman, Kanye West Daft Punk). “Hold On to Rockets” recalls singers like Lucinda Williams and Sheryl Crow, but in in the end it’s distinctly Villalobos, with a pinch of sweetness, a dash of sadness and a whole bunch of real.

||| Stream: “Everything I Want” here.