'The Pink & The Lily' by Sandi Thom

Sandi Thom's second album was released this week and it is good, much better and more consistent than her first album.

I came across Sandi through a google alert that quoted an article that said she sounded like Buffy Sainte-Marie. I followed the article back to source and found 'I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker' and then went to see her play a little gig at Islington Academy Bar. About that time the single charted and she became the latest internet-based sensation. She doesn't really sound like Buffy but she has a vibrato voice and I suppose that's similar enough. I liked about half of the first album - it was short with only 10 songs and felt like it was rushed out. The new album is longer (both number of songs and duration) and a lot more fulfilling.

Sandi released a few songs to download from her site earlier this year, songs that didn't make the album, and I liked them so was looking forward to the album's release. There's a much bigger sound on this album with the music really fleshed out by a full band rather than the sketches on the first album, a rockier sound and definite statement that she's not a one-hit wonder.

A few of the songs drip with cultural references from the last century, referencing 'Gone With The Wind', Judy Garland, the Rolling Stones, punks and hippies (as she would!) and a lot more. I'm not sure why she does this, maybe it's an attempt to place her music in an ongoing tradition down the years? Whatever, Sandi writes songs on a wide range of topics and I wonder what the inspiration for 'Success's Ladder' was? It's a celebration about a man leaving the rat race and commuting and moving down the ladder of success. That's an odd one for someone in Sandi's position and age but it's one of my favourites and shows how thoughtful she can be.

I prefer the rockier songs on the album and there's a good few to choose from: 'The Devil's Beat' (the single), 'Shape I'm In' (with the harmonica break), 'Remote Control Me', and the great 'I'm A Human Being' (which should be a single).

Well done Sandi, a big thumbs up from me!