Amy Annelle Travels to the The Cimarron Banks

Amy Annelle — one of my favorite singer/songwriters — has just released The Cimarron Banks, her seventh full-length album (counting her work with The Places). Now, the “singer/songwriter” tag doesn’t do much for me — chalk it up to seeing one to many folksters strumming away on their acoustic guitar in one coffeehouse or another — but Annelle is not your typical singer/songwriter.

True, her music is centered on just her and her guitar, but there’s something almost psychedelic about it. Her songs go down paths, melodically and otherwise, that you never quite expect, and they’re full of little bits of interesting lo-fi sonic detritus (e.g., the ambient drones that ebb and flow throughout “Forever In Between”). At the same time, her lovely voice imbues her songs with a warmth and charm that keeps them from drifting too far afield.

The Cimarron Banks is now available on High Plains Sigh. Listen to three tracks from the album on Amy Annelle’s MySpace page.