The croon, the croak and that hard-won huskiness: what else can it signal, but the return of country chanteuse Gretchen Peters? Make no mistake though: a collection of songs that will weigh heavy on heart and soul it may be, but Burnt Toast & Offerings is her most accomplished album to date.
From the delicate reverie of ‘Ghost’ to the closing lament of ‘To Say Goodbye’ this record is designed to haunt the listener. Each song is a musical novella, carefully crafted and exhibiting Peters’s writerly eye. ‘Summer People’ belies its sunny title, our narrator yearning to escape a disappointing life and arrive at some brighter future; similarly affecting is the nostalgia-wracked ‘Jezebel’, love gone awry being perfect grist to Peters’s artistic mill. Bolstered by organ, upright bass, trumpet and clarinet, there's a distinctly swing feel to several of the songs here, not least the sumptuous ‘Thirsty’ and the stealthily intoxicating ‘One For My Baby’.
‘England Blues’, is altogether too jaunty, even Peters’s sultry voice failing to elevate this somewhat conventional country number. In truth, outright happiness just doesn’t become her. Much better is the bittersweet fare – the country spiritual of ‘The Way You Move Me’ or the quietly contemplative ‘This Town’: here, life is depicted in all its glory and its grubbiness. It's this unerring authenticity that makes Burnt Toast & Offerings so valuable – and true.