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Carolyn Mark Issue #33

Nothing Is Free (Mint)

By Caroline Evans
Published: September 1st, 2007 | 12:00am

With mainstream country finding itself almost completely integrated into the pop genre and distinguishing itself by simple display of cowboy hats and occasional twang, the future of country music appears to lie not in Nashville’s music row, but with alternative traditionalists like Old Crow Medicine Show, Neko Case, and Carolyn Mark. Mark’s fifth album, Nothing Is Free, consists of crisp acoustic instrumentals, Mark’s own powerhouse vocals, and clever lyrics. It’s everything we’ve come to expect from her over the course of five albums: familiar, but, unfortunately, also a little forgettable. There’s nothing bad on this album, but there are also few surprises.

While most of the mellow-by-nature song>s on move at a glacial pace, the raggish “1 Thing” and “Pictures at 5,” with its rail-rattling rhythm, end far too quickly. It’s also on these songs that Mark’s talent for writing lyrics shines through. “I could never pick just one thing, that’s why I don’t have a tattoo,” she tries to explain her confusion on “1 Thing.”

By far the most charming song on the album is the waltz-like “The 1 That Got Away With It.” Mark goes from honky-tonk twang to mournful croon as she sings, “There’s two kinds of women you let in your life / Exciting new mistress and boring old wife.” A poignant fiddle solo makes it pure gold.

In spite of the small problems in this record, this is what country should sound like: familiar, engaging, and experienced.