Josephine Foster is a Colorado-born, country-folk singer and songwriter who credits the origins of her sound to a nuptial arrangement between tin-pan alley and rock ‘n roll. Getting her start in the early 2000’s she has since relocated to Spain, which has dramatically effected the style and subject matter of her songs. But for
No Harm Done, Josephine has returned to the US to work with guitar wizard and fellow traveler Matthew Schneider.
No Harm Done is an incredibly spacious and warm sounding country album that focuses on themes of devotion, cut with a piercing wit and a patina of the absurd. The more traditional country tracks are front-loaded here, with the aching lilt of “Freemason Drag” and the dusky trot and breathy sigh of “The Wheel of Fortune" starting things off. The latter of which tells the tale of a former rambler, who tumbled his last dune many a year ago, finally finding peace and tranquility in domesticity with his lover. It is also the track whose lyrics the album takes its name from. The variety of moods and styles on
No Harm Done is one of the album's defining features, with dusty blues serving as a reference point for album highlight “Sure Am Devlish,” an ambling number with a confessional quality that clears the regrets off your mind like the wind can clear a picnic if it catches the tablecloth under the afternoons spread just right. The meandering pace of "Devlish" is matched by the strumming, horsebacked sway of “How Come Honeycomb,” but the similarities between the two tracks end there, as a tinny ragtime guitar and bumbling bassline guide a high, dry, and wry vocal melody of "Honeycomb" down a center staircase of creaky chords and befuddled piano keys. There isn't much about
No Harm Done that won't make you feel like you've dropped in on a familiar place, one that is not quite home, but will do for now.
Get a copy of No Harm Done here.
