Maybe

The original tunes on this disc are all revelations. Written by Wicks and the web elusive Ken Nottingham, (is he the Seattle Bluegrass musician?), the songs display musical and lyrical sophistication of the highest order. If you attached a name like Bacharach or Richard Rodgers to them you would not be surprised. I don't believe this is hyperbole. These songs are smart earworms and authentically earnest. "Watercolor Rhyme" has a melody always on the edge of resolution and poetry that gracefully conflates images of color, self referential allusions to the changes in the music, and a love story, you know Jobim territory. "The Bottom of Your Heart" is Brecht/Waits casual acknowledgement of life's dark forces but more hopeful, I think convincingly so. "Ghost of a Perfect Flame" also is rich in chromatic resonance, both in the mind's eye, and in the ear. The singing is almost conversational in its phrasing, intimate and re-assuring. Wicks' tone always seems just right for her lullabies for the world weary. Oh, and the masterful piano work of Bill Anschell greatly enriches this release.