Today’s artists don’t necessarily sound like Joni Mitchell or her much-heralded third album Ladies of the Canyon. But like Joni (and that record) their contributions here herald the arrival of a distinctive voice and vision. These are LPs with impact – get ready to love the blow.

From her opening cut “Midnite Heart Attack” Rachel Angel serves notice she is coming at us with a blistering array of guitars, organ runs and a vocal presence that is both kick-ass and tender. What an electric start to her debut album of the same name. From there the album oscillates between shades of hip country, indie rock and curio pop. The record’s second song “I Can’t Win” highlights these contrasts, shifting gears to a sophisticated country sound not unlike First Aid Kit. Then track three “Closer to Myself” changes again, this time to a modern country diva number sung like Jenny Lewis, with just a hint of Abba lurking somewhere in the mix. I hear a lot of Jenny Lewis or, more accurately, Rilo Kiley on this record actually, on tracks like “Daddy” and “Candle.” But then the beautiful, lilting ballad “Baby Can I Come To You” reminds me of Melanie while “I Need Love” gets me back in a First Aid Kit state of mind. For an album highlight, I love the organ and emotional vocal intensity of “Freedom Fighter.” Angel turns out an marquis performance. Then again, I could totally hear Dolly Parton doing this, differently but equally brilliantly. Mark my words, Midnite Heart Attack is just the beginning of something big.

There’s an interstice between country and folk where Jaimee Harris lives. Her new album Boomerang Town has all the dark menace of folk and exquisite heartbreak of country in ten desperate tunes. What can I say? Sometimes it just feels good to feel this bad. Album opener and title track “Boomerang Town” is a small-town working-class testimonial to disappointment. You can practically feel the weight of circumstances crushing hope as the song wends it 7 minute way. But what delicious guitar and organ work at the halfway point – I almost feel guilty enjoying it. Then Harris strips everything down to guitar and strings on “Sam’s” but it’s her voice that is the striking instrument here, with a timbre that could break a thousand hearts. From there it’s all downhill (socially, that is), with songs about grief and loss (“How Could You Be Gone”), intergenerational addiction (“The Fair and Dark Lad”), and political divisions (“On the Surface”). Harris is clearly a talented and sensitive story-teller but I’m astonished by her ability to turn a phrase into a solid hook, as she does on tracks “Like You” and “Missing Someone.” Boomerang Town is a record with the emotional heft of Tracey Chapman’s debut LP or Lee Ann Womack’s The Way I’m Livin’. But it’s also its own thing too.

Joni Mitchell ran through a lot of styles in her career but there was always something solidly Joni in everything. These artists remind me of her in that way. You can grab a ticket to their canyon by hitting the hotlinks.

Photo courtesy Larry Gordon.