Model, singer and wife of Jack White, it turns out Karen Elson’s not just a pretty face. The ginger Brit’s bloodsoaked debut album owes a lot to Nick Cave’s Murder Ballads and Bob Dylan’s Time Out of Mind albums as she shoots for that timeless country and folk-tinged song writing. To her credit, a lot of the time she hits the mark with inspired music and lyrics which are are competent tales of murder, loss and love.

Sometimes she flies too close to Cave territory and reveals the gulf between them but for music from models you can do much worse than this. The classic murder tale of the opening title track and the wartime waltz ‘100 Years From Now’ are charming and chief pillock White’s hands-off production is as good as his work on Loretta Lynn’s country comeback album, further revealing he should be behind the recording booth rather than in it.

-TC

Tags: Karen Elson, The Ghost Who Walks
Posted in Reviews