The granddaughter of legend Johnny Cash and daughter of country stars Rodney Crowell and Rosanne Cash, it was waiting for Chelsea Crowell to make a name for herself in the music world. In 2009 she delivered a self-titled debut album, but did not really impress with it. This successor, Crystal City, is that much better. An album about broken loves and all the misery that ensues. After the intro of
… less than a minute called I Move On, the album gets off to a solid start with I'm Gonna Freeze, which is about an icy calm boyfriend. Crowell seems to have been through a lot in two years and knows how to process this in her songs in a sublime way. Sometimes the poetic stories are so long that songs are even split up, such as in the beautiful tracks Baptized Part One & Two and Crystal City. Chelsea still resembles her mother somewhat in terms of vocals, but does not target the country audience of her parents and grandfather. She does prove to master the country genre, as can be heard in Better Than Her. (BvdV)more
