Valerie June

The Order Of Time

Heavenly blues, produced by Matt Marinelli and recorded in Vermont’s Guilford Sound. Musically, little has changed for the Humboldt, Tennessee singer/ multi-instrumentalist since her 2013 breakthrough album, Pushin’ Against The Stone. Her unique voice, rooted in the church and country, still drives her songs. Those songs, perceptive porch blues about faith and loss and time passing, are still shrouded in guitar, banjo, ukulele and horns – and this time added warbly Hammond B3 provided by Norah Jones’s keyboardist Pete Remm. Shake Down, a hypnotic boogie of the kind found in the North Mississippi Hills, is pocketed with fuzz guitar soloing and call-andresponse from Valerie June’s father and two brothers. With You is intricate, fragile soul, with cascading strings and fingerpicking; Astral Plane is intense spiritual folk, Valerie June’s siren-like vocal delivery both beautiful and tempting. Lois Wilson