Catherine MacLellan

Catherine MacLellan
Church Bell Blues
(Independent)
So intimate are these songs as a group, they float in from an era of slow and stark acoustic music. Many could have been composed during a bout of mid-winter cabin fever. The daughter of the late PEI bard Gene MacLellan, Catherine is less a story-teller than a confessor. Her way of stretching a syllable owes a bit to Lucinda Williams. The repeated use of the word “lover” seems archaic, more likely these days to evoke Will Ferrell’s boastful SNL satyr of academe than a notion of tenderness. “Snow Day,” on the other hand, defines the experience: “It’s too wild out there,” with MacLellan’s voice as the warming fire. By the end, though, you may wish for a little mystery.
—Doug Taylor
categories: Canadian artist