i don’t know who needs to hear this…–Tomberlin (Saddle Creek, 2022)

Brooklyn based Sarah Beth Tomberlin’s wistful songs are the sort you play when you’re on the road, driving back from a visit to what’s been left behind–the old college town, the folks back at home, an old lover. They comfort solitude but weigh with unease. I’m admittedly not familiar with her previous work, but if “i don’t know…” is anything to go by, it’s worth exploring. There’s a bit of Beth Orton here, maybe a bit of Wye Oak, but the songwriting here earns a space with such excellent predecessors. If there’s a criticism to be made, it’s that the album maintains a pretty constant tone and might need a little variation. But check out “Easy” and “Stoned” for peaks that give a sense of what Tomberlin is capable of.