“Our sweetest songs are those that tell of the saddest thought,” said Percy Bysshe Shelley. In support of that sentiment, I offer exhibit one: The Price We Pay for Love, the new release from vocalist Julie Christensen, coproduced with bassist Terry Burns, who also contributes string arrangements and orchestral programming.
Back in May, at the New Mexico Music Awards, bassist Terry Burns introduced me to vocalist/songwriter Julie Christensen, and although her name was unfamiliar to me, the fact that she was a former backup singer for Leonard Cohen, as Terry had told me in advance, was all I needed to know to take a listen to her latest album, 11 from Kevin: Songs of Kevin Gordon. To call it a “masterpiece”—there’s a word I try to stay away from—in no way overstates its quality.
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