In a casual demeanor more commonly found in living room performances shared with friends and family exclusively, Christine Hand lays into the opening chords of “Love Me True,” the second track in her new album Standing on the Shoulders, and in the wake of the ensuing melody sparks a captivating flame that will last for the duration of the record’s 38-minutes of play.
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A subtle strut quickly turns into a galloping stomp as “Love Me True” fills our speakers with a warm tonality, and when Hand begins to sing, trying to focus on anything other than her voice is next to impossible. This track sets the stage for everything that follows, starting with the frustrated “In the Black and White,” perfectly, and though it’s only one of eleven enigmatically surreal numbers, it’s strong enough on its own to warrant listeners’ choosing Standing on the Shoulders when selecting new music to spin this season.
“In the Black and White” is structured like a rebel cry amidst a darkly evocative folk melody, but in the case of its tracklist successor “House of Bread,” Christine Hand backs away from the stacked arrangements in favor of experimenting with old-fashioned Americana of the purest variety. “Simple Life” grabbed my attention immediately upon hearing it for the first time, and not because of its brooding vocal harmony alone. In this song, Hand is defiantly poetic with her verses in a way that reminds me of both Jewel and Melanie Safka, and despite the tremendous aesthetical differences between these two influences, they seem to be perfectly amalgamated in the original delivery she’s offering up here.
If it’s swinging grooves that you’re after this December, Standing on the Shoulders’ “Take it Slow” has got you covered in the form of its exuberantly youthful sway, but as fine as its unbridled rhythm is, it’s not enough to eclipse the suffocating December of the strings in “Time to Embrace,” my favorite song on the album. “Time to Embrace” is blues that could at once double for alternative Americana and blistering country-folk without sounding overly experimental, and if you ask me, it’s the best example of Christine Hand’s versatility as a songwriter on the whole of this LP. She’s got the skills to be as wild with her composing as she wants, but better yet, she knows how to restrain herself from overexposing any one particular element in her style.
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Standing on the Shoulders draws closer to its conclusion with the surreal gut-punch of a groove that powers “Slow Dance,” and in the radiant “Be Still,” Christine Hand brings us across the finish line with one final string of poetic verses that sear their narrative into the hearts of listeners on the back of what could be the best vocal this singer/songwriter has ever recorded. While undeniably an independent artist whose ascent through the Dallas underground has truly been something to marvel at in the last few years, Hand is sounding like a seasoned veteran ready to embrace the success that comes with breaking through to the mainstream in Standing on the Shoulders, and in time, I think her second record will be regarded as a seminal milestone in her career.
Claire Uebelacker