Vanessa Peters

The Burn, the Truth, the Lies, Self-released ***

The Burn, the Truth, the Lies, Self-released ***

This unsigned Texan singer-songwriter gave up the idea of writing creative fiction about 10 years ago while on a culture trip to Tuscany. Instead, Peters embarked on career writing creative songs, graduating from open mic nights around Houston to collaborating with Italian musicians ( Ice Cream on Mondays) to delivering a series of well-received solo albums, of which this is her latest. Back up by the delightfully wonky talents of Apples in Stereo’s John Dufilho and Polyphonic Spree’s Jason Garner, Peters frames the music (more catchy pop/folk than archetypal singer-songwriter) around words that explicitly reference the stinging honesty of the album’s title. The result is a collection of emotional clarity and singular purpose.

Download: The State I'm Living In, The Sting, String Too Short to Use

Tony Clayton-Lea

Tony Clayton-Lea

Tony Clayton-Lea is a contributor to The Irish Times specialising in popular culture