Allison Crutchfield is no stranger to making powerful music. Having already spent time honing her craft in P.S Eliot along with her sister, Katie – who you will know from the excellent Waxahatchee – and Swearin’, Crutchfield has expanded into a different avenue with ‘Tourist In This Town’. It is a far cry from her work of old, yet written with the same heart and passion as her previous projects.
With the help of producer, Jeff Zeigler (Kurt Vile, Nothing), Crutchfield has crafted an album of layered compositions. Gone are the discordant guitar-driven tracks that have traditionally been part of her lexicon. They are replaced with lush synth leads and bright melodies, wrapped in Zeigler’s warm analogue production to add to the sun-kissed vibe of ‘I Don’t Ever Wanna Leave California’ and the effervescent ‘Mile Away’.
Crutchfield has described ‘Tourist In This Town’ as an album about a multitude of changes. While the direction of the music is the most prominent change, the heart-on-sleeve tales told through out the record are redolent of the panic, promise, fear and excitement that come with the change of a situation.
‘The Marriage’, short and punchy in its delivery, is a vehicle for the light and shade of Crutchfield’s conflicted emotions that come with new experiences. ‘Sightseeing’ takes you directly to a view from her eyes; visiting different places while unable to escape the lingering memory of home.
‘Tourist in This Town’ does, at times, feel like a homage to 80s pop, and that isn’t a band thing. There are nods towards Cyndi Lauper’s more sullen moments, most notably on ‘Secret Lives and Deaths’, and ‘Dean’s Room’ could be an outtake from a Strawberry Switchblade session.
Far from one dimensional, the gorgeous shimmer of the synth-based tracks are broken up by rich instrumentation. ‘Charlie’ is an intricately picked, heart-wrenching ballad that is solid rather than twee, and ‘Chopsticks on Pots and Pans’ slowly builds over shuffling drum beats to an uplifting climax. It is a contrast to the brooding opener, ‘Broad Daylight’, and bookends the album perfectly.
While it is musically a leap of faith for Crutchfield, and a chance that few would take, ‘Tourist In This Town’ captures the human emotion perfectly. It is a slick sounding album, overall, but unpolished enough to remain engaging with the utmost sincerity.
GLEN BUSHELL