The Trinity Session

Slow and sparse arrangements that are mostly a way to showcase the lead singer's voice. Usually a bit too laid back for regular listening or to be super memorable, but the band really does know what they're doing.

I’ve loved their cover of Sweet Jane for years but some of the other songs really showcase her voice better. Unfortunately not many of them are interesting or memorable enough to really make an impression.

A nice, warm and somber start that builds up my expectations, however the lack of dynamics hits hard. Won't relisten unfortunately. Such a shame, the singer has a beautiful voice and with more upbeat songs this could have been a more famous album.

Yes it's very slow, so you need the right occasion to listen to it. But Jesus does she have a beautiful voice, and the band is on point throughout the whole album. The story of being recorded in the church with one microphone is cool, but it sounds too good for me to believe it. Not alot of replayability, but a really well made album. 3.75* rounded up to 4*

Maybe a three and a half from me. It’s pleasant to listen to, but maybe it’s a consequence of being from Belleville, I hold alt country bands to the Uncle Tupelo standard. That being said, it’s a nice background record, but nothing really grabbed me.

Nice vocals and very chill music. It felt perfect to put on after a long night out or something similar. Just relax on your sofa and enjoy. It was, however, quite samey, and none of the songs really had any particular hooks that made me want to come back to them. Maybe the cover of “Blue Moon” is the exception. I really enjoyed that one.

About time some Canadians crossed my path. Margo Timmons voice is the driver here. The sparse instrumentation is perfect for just the right amount of accompaniment to highlight her soft vocal style. If you start with the cover if the Velvet’s Sweet Jane - a distinctive and vibrant cover - then the rest of the album will make sense for those raised on rock. For me, the stark opener of Margo’s a cappella on Mining For Gold and the remarkable Postcard Blues are where you get to experience magic. Rarely are you captivated by the remarkable nuance of a soft vocal style but on these two tracks that nuance is exposed. You can imagine yourself in a Smokey nightclub with Margo surrounded by the Junkies carving out a distinct vibe. The combination of Postcard Blues, Walking After Midnight, and Dreaming My Dreams With You would be stunning. This is a singular record for its ability to transform some well known songs into something distinct that would compel you to go see them live. I can hear beer glasses tinkling and soft chatter as a single spotlight highlights Margo seated on a stool…. 5/5

Nice voice, but too dull for me. Enya would be a much butter choice!

Mooie stem maar veel van hetzelfde

One of the remarkable albums ever recorded. Sparse, beautiful, haunting and memorable.

i don't think people understand how good this album actually is

Wanted to like this more but vocals stayed too samey for me

1.1/5 She has a lovely voice, but my god this is slow and boring.

I didn't have much of an expectation going into this. It's not something I would've ever picked up on my own, though. To my surprise, I loved almost every minute of what this had to offer. The instrumentals, the vocals, the overall tone and environment it sets. Shocked with how much this resonated with me. Fits the post-October, daylight savings feel very well. Overall, probably my biggest surprise album from this list so far. Faves: Misguided angel, Blue Moon Revisited, I don't get it, Dreaming my dreams with you Rating: 9.1/10

Nice vocals but every song sounded the same.

10/24 Was okay, but country is not my thing

Enjoyment: 6/10 Replayability: 4/10 Cohesion: 5/10 Flow/Pacing: 5/10 Artistic Merit: 5/10 Weighted Average: 5.1/10 Review: A slow but thoughtful folk album. I've listened to it once, and that's enough for me. Nothing bad, but nothing for me to return to. Liked Song(s): Blue Moon Revisited (Song for Elvis), Sweet Jane Disliked Song(s): (None) Recommend? Maybe Heard Before? No

In my mind I knew what the Cowboy Junkies sounded like and it wasn’t this. ‘Mining for gold’ is such a beautifully fragile opener, it is hard not to be drawn in. ‘Blue moon revisited’ is an interesting offering, especially as i’ve just been listening to a podcast discussing interpolation. It works really well and provides a point of interest just as it’s all beginning to feel a bit samey. The cover of ‘Sweet Jane’ is great and the sing and group really suit each other. Unfortunately the gentle dreaminess of the rest of the album reinforces the samey feel and aside for an occasional foray into country stylings it’s just a bit dull as a whole. Good background music for conversations, but i think if you listened to this on a late night drive you would be in danger of drifting off. It’s a shame as individually i’m not sure you can fault the individual tracks, just dont want to listen to them one after another

This wasn’t what I was expecting from Cowboy Junkies, based on their name. It wasn’t unpleasant, and Margo Timmins has a beautiful voice that is put to excellent use in an abandoned church with one microphone. It’s a solid album to wind down to of an evening, but it does get a bit samey after a while. Probably a solid 2.5* for me, but there isn’t a lot to justify rounding up.

Pretty background music, that would be fairly unobjectionable if you weren't paying attention and just wanted some floaty folk to not really listen to. Unfortunately, the moment you start focusing on it, it becomes pretty but a bit dull. This is another one of those albums where I'd really like to read the book to understand why it was held in such high regard. She's got a nice voice, but it all feels very one note. 2/5

Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z.... #DagensOrd AT GABE

Cigarettes after sex goes to the countryside Det var OK, rimeligt kedeligt også. Virkelig underligt country mix, ikke den største fan

Tja, det var vist bare fint nok. Lidt kedeligt 2.4

#505/1001. I remember hearing the cover version of Sweet Jane and thinking it was nice, but when listening to one of their albums (maybe this one, maybe not) they turned out to be not so interesting with a country tint. That was 35 years ago, but I got the same feeling again.

Never heard of them before. Decent, but slow but pretty good. Feeling a 3.

The vocals are lovely and so is the accompaniment, but the sum of its parts is just not that interesting to be honest. There’s plenty of “cowboy” and I think what I want is more “junkies”. Very good for what it is, but it’s not really for me.

Wow, was für eine krasse Atmosphäre das Album hat. Die sanfte Stimme passt super zu den sphärischen Instrumenten. Eine sehr positive Überraschung. 5/5

This is one where the wiki info explains what you are hearing. I hadnt heard of this and popped it on with low expectations. What i heard was warm and atmospheric trad ballads done well. The wiki explains the method that created such a specific sound that matches the vibe so well. Its very vibe specific but i will come back to this.

empieza bastante cálido y acogedor y ya en la segunda mitad se hace pesadisimo 7/10

Another band I thought I had never heard of. This starts interestingly, a smoky, slow burn that almost has a bit of a jazz feel or something you might hear at a coffee house. Unfortunately, much like coffee or caffeine in general, this is best taken in small doses. A whole album of this snail pace leaves me begging for anything up tempo. By the time I got to Sweet Jane and realized that I had heard this song before, I really didn't care. If I heard it on the radio, I might wonder whatever happened to this band. Hearing the rest of the record, I kind of understood why I never really heard from them again.

A favourite of my mother's, but one that I could never get very excited about. The 'sessions' in a record title prepares you that there is no overarching artistic statement, no greater objective than to capture the mood of that band in that studio at that time. The mood of The Trinity Sessions is moody. If the group was content to perform a sort of early sadcore, as it does on Sweet Jane, it would play well - Margo Timmins has a tender, poignant vocal delivery. However, they as frequently degrade into the sort of jam band noodling that is jazz in everything but spirit, ability, and taste. We've all been there and we're all capable of it: too many runs and fills, none of them particularly sophisticated. That this has the effect of shaving down the beautiful melodic contours of Walking After Midnight to a sheer plane is sadder than any sadcore. 2.5 I haven’t listened to this in a few years and was delighted to see it pop up. I was still surprised, listening to it, how powerful I continue to find it. The album’s all-encompassing one-microphone hook renders its artistic identity in one stroke. This is something akin to Springsteen’s Nebraska conceit which we encountered recently, but Cowboy Junkies’ feels even more powerful than that. The stakes are higher and the effect is much richer. The spatial freezing of the band around that microphone gives the performances a ritualistic quality that mesmerises. It also strikes me as being perfectly appropriate for the rendering of country music and blues - the traditional and the anonymous, where the egos of performers are properly subsumed in the material of the story being told and in the procedure itself. Their versions of I’m So Lonesome, Working on a Building and Walkin’ After Midnight, alongside their own excellent compositions, represent to me just about the limits of musical and dramatic power within the boundaries of those genres. The harmonica entry in Postcard Blues thrills every time; the guitar, the accordion, the fiddle in Walkin’ After Midnight are magic. I could be wrong - the surreal, slightly creepy sound is all quite Lynchian, after all, so perhaps on some level it is all benefitting from my imagining Audrey Horne swinging her arms, eyes closed in the middle of the church. 4/5

This was not what I was expecting from a band called Cowboy Junkies. Much gentler, less tangy than I was bracing myself for. Barebones in a way that became a little uninteresting, but pleasant enough.

Not even the Sweet Jane cover can salvage this album

It’s country but not really. Felt a bit confused but overall the music was good even if too mellow for me (maybe I wasn’t in the mood).

Truly beautiful album. And I’m so sorry to say this…it gets pretty dull.

Sunday, 11/10/26 Strong showing from North of the border! Great renditions of some old tunes.

Sweet voice Easy to listen to Good falling asleep album

Very slow, a little weirdish, not bad, but not completely my vibe.

Her voice saves me from hating this. ★★

I dunno, this didn't do much for me. I was hoping it would be a little more uptempo overall, but maybe I was confusing them with another band. I wish they would have either committed to an album of all originals or an album of all covers and not a weird half-and-half.

I would love to listen to this live at my favorite cocktail bar. But the unrelenting softness was too much for an album.

I really love the singer's voice. She sounds like an angel. I also like the way this is arranged and played. Yet the sum equals less than the parts, as this becomes very much the same over the album's run time.

*wakes up* “what happened?”

Perfect to chill

I was kind of enjoying it at the start but it just became so incredibly mind numbingly slow by the end. Also while I was listening three men sat near me on the tube and I have never been near anyone who smelt so disgustingly foul before let alone three of them. I actually thought I was going to throw up. I don't understand how they managed to get so bad. But that kind of ruined my experience and I imagine that if I ever listen to this album again I might start to feel nauseous again. I even took the couple of earlier songs I enjoyed back out of my liked do they don't come up again. Not particularly fair but what can you do. Aside from have a god damn shower. Christ above.

I can't say this left a huge impression on me while I was listening to it, but it does have a good overall atmosphere and vibe. It's slow and soulful and a bit sad. You can hear just a tinge of country, but generally it's just a nice and calming listen. The Sweet Jane (live) cover was nice. As a side note, I quite like the album cover. It's so washed out, but it gives a good sense of the mood.

Trage cuntry met wat blues en jazz invloeden. En af en toe onze eigen palingsound. Ze doen het lang niet slecht. De zangeres klinkt over het algemeen aangenaam, ze geven hun eigen draai aan de muziek, enzovoor, enzovoort. Hulde, lof, krediet. Ik kan ze op weinig fouten betrappen. En toch moet ik flink doorbijten om hier doorheen te geraken. Godallejezus wat is het af en toe traag. In het algemeen is het al een traag album, maar er zijn nummers waarbij dan alsnog even extra aan de handrem getrokken wordt. Het is bijna tergend. Dat maakt dat er aan het einde relatief weinig sterren overblijven. Geen slecht album dus, maar het is niet helemaal voor mij gemaakt.

what the actual fuck is this

The Junkies established a sound—and committed to it. There are so many bangers here: “Sweet Jane,” “Misguided Angel,” “Blue Moon Revisited,” the cover of “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.” Great album.

I listened to it while on public transit, and that was alright. If I listened to it on its own, I would be bored to pieces.

Rustige country met een vleugje jazz en folk, en met een warme damesstem die aan Clannad doet denken. Niet wat je bij de bandnaam Cowboy Junkies zou verwachten, maar boeien. Mijn advies voor de dame zou zijn: ga solo, want je stem maakt de plaat, en die bandnaam gaat nergens over. Hoe dan ook, hoe vaker ik het hoor, hoe mooier ik het vind. Eentje om te onthouden.

Het eerste nummer belooft ons wat. Met een klank of ze voor een volkslied in een stadium staat, laat de zangeres ons weten dat ze geen muzikale begeleiding nodig heeft. Waarbij ik het altijd waardeer dat de zangkracht en variatie binnen het eigen bereik worden gevonden en niets wordt geforceerd. Het is maar goed ook dat ze dame weinig begeleiding nodig heeft. Want het volgende nummer voegt slaapverwekkende country-klanken toe. De dame moet zich hiertoe verhouden en is totaal niet interessant meer. Het derde nummer is een eerbetoon aan Elvis en biedt de zangeres weer wat meer mogelijkheden. Waarna we een soort Wende Snijders moeten doorwerken. Gek genoeg is de variatie daarna op en volgt er vooral een rustige country-achtige sfeer. Zeker niet slecht uitgevoerd, maar wel veel te saai.

Een album met covers en traditionals, dat was vrij gebruikelijk in de 50s en 60s misschien, maar het is toch ietwat raar eind jaren '80. Of althans, het is ongebruikelijk om dat op te nemen in de snoblijst. Blijkbaar was deze opname vanuit Toronto's Church of the Holy Trinity een redelijk succes, maar voor mij klinkt het meer als een (goede) opname van een willekeurig gospelbandje. Qua muziek geven ze er soms nog wel een aardige countrydraai aan. Het geluid klinkt prachtig, al werkt de zang soms ietsje op de zenuwen. Maar dat is meer omdat het ook behoorlijk 80s klinkt. Het doet me ook gelijk denken aan Eva Cassidy, die tergend trage covers maakte van tracks als Fields of Gold en Songbird. Datzelfde heb ik dus met die Blue Moon cover hier, dat blijkbaar de 'hitsingle' was. Het is wel erg traag allemaal. Ik weet niet goed wat ik er van moet vinden. Ik kan me ergens goed voorstellen dat je dit prachtig vindt en dus 4 of 5 sterren geeft, maar aan de andere kant snap ik een 1 ook. Na een paar tracks, ben ik die traagheid wel zat. Het is slaapverwekkend. Door de tweede helft ben ik heen geskipt, want ik geloof het wel weer. Ik sta aan de kant van de mensen die een 1 geven, maar zal het op een magere 2 houden.

Not really what I was expecting with a name like Cowboy Junkies. It's laid-back and has a nice atmosphere, and I could see this being a really enjoyable listen live in a small lounge setting. Beyond that, though, I don't think this is for me. It's pleasant enough, but not something I see myself coming back to.

Slow and boring. One tone throughout. 2/5

Pretty interesting. I didn't mind it.

Chill sad-girl country album that slowly transitions into the Blues. Elevated by the vocals, which I vibe with. Kind of a country/blues Mitski.

Another down tempo. It's my penance for having Metallica yesterday. She does have a beautiful voice. Just pure. I did enjoy the first track which is just solo voice with no instruments. The country vibe is there but not overpowering so I did enjoy the listen. Sweet Jane (Velvet Underground cover) the 10th track the big hit.

Don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. Reminds me of the music from the commitments

Great album - not only because of the songs and performances, but the way that it was recorded - definitely feels like you are in the church with them.

The Trinity Session is one of the great atmospheric albums of the late 1980s. Its greatest achievement isn’t virtuosity. It’s restraint. The Cowboy Junkies understood that a whisper can be more powerful than a scream, that silence can function as an instrument, and that a great recording doesn’t necessarily require layers upon layers of production.

Maybe this resonated at the time (88) as a sort of antidote to the excess and overproduction of the 80s. The sparseness has a nice expansive quality to it but the songs themselves are thin. I hate the Sweet Jane cover

My partner makes fun of me from time to time that my catalog of albums/playlists are all overly happy, rocky and energizing. Usually, I end up completely cutting the music after she says this and walk away with a straight face before slowly cranking it back up again 😂 Margo Timmins vocals are great (no doubt), but its all just a little too dead that it borders on lacking that punch that makes me WANT to listen. The best analogy is Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh. They just can't muster enough spirit and they're kind of proud of it Postcard Blues was good. Sweet Jane cover was alright too. 2.5 stars and rounding up because sometimes Eeyore needs to remember that life can be great sometimes too

Wanted to like this more. Thought the first two song sequence was really pretty, but then kind of lost its footing. I like the whole sibling family band thing though, pretty fun concept. But you would think one of them would be like, hey can we do some more fun songs this time?

woah they had mitski in 1988

Pretty

Slow, bluesy, and soulful. This doesn’t feel like country. Too slow for me to want to come back to, but I get it. I had a co-worker at the time that was nuts for this band. I’m team BoDeans myself.

This was a really nice sombre album. It nails a lot of things melancholy as well. Just something about the country/folk-y sound mixed with this incredible darkness and a little bit of lo-fi-ness is a bit charming to my ears. I believe this scratches a similar itch to that of Nebraska (by Bruce Springsteen.) Unsure if I'd return really, but if I am seeking the Nebraska-like mood again I think I'd give it another shot. Highlight Song/s: "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry"

Imagine how funny it was for mr. Book to add albums that nobody's ever listened to before. Nice one, Book Author, nice one

Headache blues

Beautiful voice but it's a bit too hushed and slow for me overall.

While the record is okay, it is also quite boring and uninteresting. Favourite Track(s): Working on a Building Least Favourite Track(s): I Don't Get It

BEAUTIFUL

Personalmente es uno de los mejores álbumes que escuché en esta lista. Me encanta la voz de ella, me recuerda muchísimo a Sinnead. Además su estilo de folk me parece maravilloso.

Good but a little one note

Cassettes left in the glove box of David Lynch’s daily driver. Set for auction alongside 150,000 cigarette butts. This is a wonderful vibe. This is the music I want to hear when I go to an establishment and it claims to have “live music.” No Ugrille, I don’t want to listen to some milquetoast white guy who owns properties in Shippensburg sing his rendition of “Every Rose Has It’s Thorn” by Poison. Take your $45 burger and use the grease to remove the wart off my ass, you gentrifying shithole. Good band. Want to listen to more of their stuff.

Took it slow and gave space for these beautiful songs. Some covers and some originals. I was surprised how they could put their own spin on classics like “Midnight” and “I’m so Lonesome.” There seems to be wearied angst that comes off more mature than their band name lets on. All in all impressed even if it was a little too quiet for repeat listening. I agree that this is a good album to fall asleep too.

Somebody get them a gig at the Roadhouse—stat. This is a slow-burn that exists between Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska and a Mazzy Star album. Everything, down to the ghostly reverb, is supreme. If you aren’t drawing on a cigarette beneath a star-filled sky while it plays, you aren’t listening to it right.

The summoning of a primordial spirit that cannot comprehend good or evil. Tantalizingly-restrained playing of American Songbook cuts and originals that COULD be American Songbook cuts in front of one mic in a big empty church. They ask...how slow can we play it? how quiet can we play it? how few notes can we eek out and still call it a song? Shades of late-career Dylan. Shades of Ethel. Shades of "did Cowboy Junkies have a gig at The Roadhouse?" A tad too glacial to warrant obsessive listening, but I will be returning to this the next time I can't sleep. The cover of "Lonesome" is an all-timer--that flippin pedal steel!

This seems like something different as only country I’ve gotten was way older like 60s-70s. Funny. Her voice sounds more alt rock-ish. This isn’t your regular country. It feels like a mix of some 90s alt rock with some hints of country instrumentally behind it. Blue Moon Revisited is a great cover. Biggest issue is the album is just so slow. Feels like all one speed and the lack of variety gets boring after a while. There are a few songs that would be fine in a playlist and there’s an interesting sound to a lot of it, but as an entire album, this doesn’t do much for me. Not terrible, just not for me. 2.

THAT - was good! Had to listen to it again it was so good.

I read several other reviews that mentioned quiet and boring and I would agree at times that is the best way to describe this album. I had heard Sweet Jane and Walking After Midnight prior and knew what I was getting into. The subdued vocals and tone of the album is exactly what I think they were going for. I won't say I loved this album, but it was a good listen and was relaxing. Overall I would give the album 5/10, which means it will get a 2, really wish they would have made the scale out of 10 rather than 5.

very solid ethereal album

Boring. Not for me

So underrated - see you in a couple of weeks!

Cowboy junkies? More like dope junkies because this is slow and boring as shit.

The same song 12 times, not for me

Хорошая музыка и прекрасный вокал. но в таком количестве это надоедает и становится скучно

Track By Track Mining For Gold - a very different style from what I’ve received thus far! Melancholic solo voice. Reminds me a little of the ‘O Brother’ soundtrack. Quite nice. Misguided Angel - plaintive lyrics. Sad and heart felt. I didn’t love on first listen. Blue Moon Revisited (Song For Elvis) - nice fusion of cover and more original material. Solo was a nice touch, great simple guitar work. I Don’t Get It - moody, plodding. Like the aching harmonica. Dusty vibe. Slightly too long but I guess that’s the point for this one. I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry - a cover that really leans into the aching sadness of the tune’s lyrics. It’s stripped of Williams’ jaunty twang which masked the lyrics’ sombre tone. It’s almost like a slow Mazzy Star one with all that echo. Nicely done. I’m sad now though! To Love Is To Bury - cowboy music indeed. I do like the progression here. I think bands like Hurray For The Riff Raff must have been inspired by this. Lovely steel guitar and soloing from the lead guitar as well. 200 More Miles - like a sort of old troubadour folk song. Another slow one - this album could do with a change of pace a bit! Pretty playing though. Dreaming My Dreams With You - fuzzy bass and echo-y guitar a nice combo. Quite a heartbroken song. Working On A Building - nice little pick up (slight!). Good guitar licks and noodles. Sounds like a classic but not sure. Heard another song like this before. Quite dig the moody tone. Sweet Jane - really nice moody cover. It’s a great tune from Velvet Underground. Guitar focused, nice fuzz. Postcard Blues - just very much encapsulates the feel of the record. That harmonica (?), woah. Intense. Walking After Midnight - It’s a classic one. Here, they really bring out the darkness and forlorn melancholy of the lyrics. The blues exemplified, or incarnate? Good one. Overall Review: It’s very much a mood album this one. A little dark actually, to me. A good and well put together one though. I did appreciate some of the tunes, but an entire album of slow songs like this was a bit much. Nice to discover someone new, this is the first album and band combo I’d never heard of before. So sad though! 2.7/5 Favourite Songs: Mining For Gold, Sweet Jane, Walking After Midnight

I can get behind some slowcore, but not so much country. I enjoyed the more "jazzy" songs, but any song with a pedal steel or twang didn't do anything for me. I also saw someone's review that said she sings the same on every song, and I couldn't unhear it. It sounds like if Beth Gibbons from Portishead gave the least amount of effort she could offer. Low 3.

Que negócio ruim… música pra depressivo cult. Sinceramente não sei como isso tem público e como veio parar aqui. Horripilante.

8/10 When faced with an album by a group named Cowboy Junkies, I was immediately cautious. It sounds exactly like the kind of yee-haw country band that really don't tick any boxes for me, so I wasn't really expecting much. It turns out that on this occasion, the old adage about judging a book by it's cover is certainly true. On further inspection, the story around this record is fascinating. The band hired a church for a day, spent a few hours working out their positioning around a single central microphone, recording to a betamax video recorder, and recorded nearly everything in a single day (they did pop back to get a final track done a few days later). The planning and ear for making live production choices under such constraints would be remarkable enough, but to achieve a recording of this quality is frankly staggering. The song list itself is decent enough, if not spectacular, with a reasonable amount of range, touching on country, folk, blues and jazz in various places. But what this record does is illustrate how much performance and production standards can elevate a good set of songs into a package that becomes essential listening. The balance that the band achieve with the most limited range of equipment that they could possibly have chosen is utterly brilliant. Parts float in and out with delightful ease, playing around each other in a way that always enhances the material. And the natural reverb of the church blends everything together into this lush, warm blanket of sound that's incredibly evocative and beautiful. The band themselves deliver some really quality in their performances, and the restraint and nuance to their performances shows real reverence and awareness to both the material and the environment in which they were performing. We get flickers of flair here and there, particularly from Michael Timmins on guitar, though Alan Anton and Peter Timmins on bass and drums respectively also get their moments. The supporting musicians also provide exceptionally well structured contributions, thickening up the harmonies and ambience as required, but never pushing too far. But the biggest standout here is the gorgeous delivery of Margo Timmins, whose balance between subtlety and power is a perfect foil for the band and the recording environment. There were many moments across the record that I couldn't help but be enthralled by her work. The ability to impart so much emotional weight and deftness of touch so consistently across an entire record was a delight to experience and was another element that really lifted up the material to an excellent level. This album is a real triumph of recording and performance that I'm sure will stick with me and probably grown on me for years to come. A lovely, lovely record. Mining For Gold - The sound of this is so lush. Margo Timmins' voice is gorgeous and her delivery is so strong yet subtle. It's incredibly emotive and starkly beautiful. Misguided Angel - Another beautiful work. The shimmering instrumental work that floats in and out of the reverberant atmosphere is really well balanced and the well written and pretty composition is enhanced by the arrangement and recording process. It's just really lovely stuff. Blue Moon Revisited (Song For Elvis) - It's a musically interesting and well balanced sequel to a classic song. The slightly meandering vocal delivery leans into the subtle swing of the groove and the lead guitar work is sharp with a touch of jazziness. Again, the tone of the church around them is gorgeous and the balance they create with careful positioning around a single microphone is remarkable. Beautiful. I Don't Get It - The bluesy jazz style of this album is a real surprise and it leans even further in that direction now. The vocals are so, so good and the instrumental soloing is so smooth and tasty, both from the harmonica and guitar in equal measure. See, Bob Dylan, it is possible to play blues harmonica with purpose. It's a really strong blues song at its heart, but boy oh boy do the performances and recording quality take it up and extra notch too. I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry - It's a classic track, but the restraint and care with which they arrange and perform it is heartwarming. This is music to sink into and appreciate as it flows over you. It's so slow and delicate, but has buckets of charm and beauty to carry it along. To Love Is To Bury - The fiddle playing here is so nice as we lean more into country music. It continues to be deft and in places stark, but they balance the dynamics so we'll and it feels incredibly organic and fluid in its performances. Margos vocal is understated but still packs exactly the right amount of punch. I'm not excited by this, but I am enthralled. 200 More Miles - The rhythms here are really nice and the slide guitar counterpoint to the vocal melody is lush. There's just a touch more zip to this, but it's still laid back and delicate with it. The vocal melody is really pretty and again, this is just such a beautiful sound world to inhabit. Dreaming My Dreams With You - I really like the slight lilt to this that gives it a touch of swing. It's so simple and stripped back, but that delicacy of delivery continues to be excellent. Every time it feels like it's almost losing momentum, they just pop in a change like the guitar solo and it picks back up again. Working On A Building - This has a bit more groove, pace and overlapping complimentary parts than the last few. It's still slow and sultry, but has an edge of jazzy funk to it too. Margo's lazy, smokey delivery is a perfect foil for the soul of the track, and it feels like we're lifting ever so slightly towards the final straight. Sweet Jane - Oh, this is so good. It takes that slightly (ever so slightly) more forward drive on from the last track and brings in just a touch more snap. It remains endlessly patient and restrained though and it's impossible not to completely hang off that melody. The transition into the middle eight is stunning. It's a journey of a song anyway, but the slight touch of darkness balanced against the beauty of the performance is exceptional. Postcard Blues - If we're talking restraint, this takes it almost to the extreme. The very, very subtle beat that drips along in the background is great, the balance and passing around of the lead is very well handled and there's so much soul in every performance. Walking After Midnight - Back into blues country now and if anyone doubts that you can drag emotion out of a harmonica, play them this. It's jazzy, swung, groovy and still so laid back and delicate. It's a slow strut of a track and that guitar solo is superb. Beautiful stuff. And I love the little bit of ambient recording they left at the end, which really highlights the beauty of the recording.

Well that was depressing. Sweet Jane is an epic song … when sung by Lou Reed. The Cowboys made it dreary and dull.

A bit too slow. Melodies were kind of generic. Hard to keep listening

Put me to sleep, but it was good

Well, bloody hell. Having just written a whole reflection on listening as openly and without prejudice as possible in the previous review, I get this thrown at me. The album had barely been playing for two minutes when I thought: I already know. And then there is the awkward fact that “Sweet Jane” is by far the best track on the album. So what made me reach a verdict quite so quickly? No, this isn't prejudice. It is simply very obvious what I think of this. I actually gave it a proper chance. I listened to it on the train from Amsterdam to the station down here in the south, wearing my good headphones. I let the sound wash over me. And I have to say: the recording quality — or rather, the lack of it — isn't even the problem. Quite the opposite. The recording is genuinely beautiful, and probably the album's greatest achievement, especially considering it was made in the eighties. No, the biggest problem is Margo Timmins. There is indeed no screaming, no vocal acrobatics, no singing-herself-into-a-three-octave-fit. There is whisper-singing. Gadverdamme. Do readers still remember the phenomenon? If you are much younger than me, probably not. In the eighties, those infamous Dutch 06-lines appeared: telephone numbers for all sorts of commercial services, before 06 numbers became synonymous with mobile phones. The most notorious were the sex lines. A rather sad phenomenon, really. Naturally, a friend and I called one from a phone booth when we were about twelve, just to find out what actually happened. I don't remember anymore, and our coins disappeared pretty quickly, but it certainly wasn't spectacular. What I mainly associate those lines with is women whispering in deliberately sexy voices: “Oh, it's so big…” or something along those lines. Which obviously wouldn't have been very convincing if they couldn't actually see the caller's penis. But then again, judging by the number of people who apparently went bankrupt calling these things, intelligence was not necessarily a prerequisite. And to my astonishment, there is now a phenomenon that reminds me of it: ASMR. The excellent Dutch science podcast Onbehaarde Apen once devoted an episode to it. They played some examples, including a woman whispering about… well, I have absolutely no idea what she was talking about. At some point she was cutting paper with scissors or something. Apparently this sort of thing relaxes some people. With me, it produces almost exactly the opposite reaction. Why don't you just talk normally? People who listen to this stuff would probably be better off getting absolutely shit-faced. Well, that is essentially how Margo Timmins sings. It is a kind of whispering. She never really sings out. So no, there aren't three octaves flying past in a single word, but instead there is something that gets on my nerves to an extreme degree. And is this actually her normal voice? It isn't falsetto, but it isn't really a normal singing voice either. It sits somewhere in an extremely high register and, combined with the whispering, becomes this strange sonic phenomenon that seems specifically designed to irritate well-meaning people. It is fucking awful. And the music? Well, the sparseness is actually fine. The thing I like most by far is the understated electric guitar in the left channel, holding the whole thing together for much of the album with the occasional tiny accent. But come on, people. “Blue Moon”, renamed “Blue Moon Revisited (Song for Elvis)”, is already a questionable proposition. But their treatment of Hank Williams's beautiful “I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry” is bordering on musical vandalism. People, people. This is not good. Things do improve somewhat as the album progresses. The music comes a little more to life, and every now and then Timmins even says a word at a normal volume. But this simply cannot be. For context, the Cowboy Junkies are a Canadian alt-country band from Toronto, built around the Timmins family. Margo sings, brothers Michael and Peter play guitar and drums, and there was formerly another brother, John, on guitar, alongside bassist Alan Anton. Curiously, Wikipedia says the band was formed in Toronto, while all four permanent members were born in Montreal, which is in a different province. Anyway. I'm also not entirely convinced by the alternative country label. I'd reserve that for considerably more adventurous acts such as Lucinda Williams, Whiskeytown — with Ryan Adams — or even Wilco. This is really more like syrupy country. There is, however, one thing the Great Menace got absolutely right in its attempt to predict my opinion of this album: “Sweet Jane” is by far, and I mean by far, the best song here. And interestingly, it is also by far the most-streamed track. It is one of those melodies that is almost impossible to get out of your head. But that has considerably more to do with Lou Reed's composition than with Margo Timmins's whispering. Finally, for the sake of completeness: The Trinity Session is famous for being recorded in a church in Toronto, with the musicians gathered around a single microphone. Kudos.

It’s fine

Very cool, smooth and sultry record with some country & blues influences. The singer's voice is captivating and endearing. The music is slow and relaxing with an easy mood to get along to. I dig this.

Not for me, yawn.

Much better than I was expecting based on the description. It’s like Portishead did a country album