Josephine Foster - This Coming Gladness (2008)

Colorado born Josephine Foster has practically defined what it means to be an outsider folk singer. Initially with Born Heller and then solo and accompanied by the Supposed, her unsettling soprano and way with a song takes the eerie otherness of those early Appalachian ballads and brings them, whispering, into our dreams. The Coming Gladness brings the folk aesthetic that Josephine has explored in her recent albums to the psyche rock territory of her recordings with the Supposed. This intense, uncompromising music is the looming badlands landscape lit by the charged lightning strikes of an extraordinary voice. That voice belongs to no movement, trend or fashion, any more than the equally haunted spirit of Tim Buckley, another outsider, another unique talent, did in his day. It is simply great music and Josephine Foster is, simply, a great singer, simply a great songwriter. Guitarist Victor Herrero and percussionist Alex Nielson more than contribute to the otherworldly sound of the album. Alex Nielson has been the drummer of choice for Will Oldham, Current 93, and many others, while also fronting his own bands Directing Hand, Tight Meat Duo, and Trembling Bells.