How Many Times

New Orleans-based singer/songwriter Esther Rose introduced her dreamy, twang-suffused retro-country sound and plain-spoken, often endurance-themed lyrics as a five-piece acoustic combo on 2017s This Time Last Night. Two years later, she returned with like-minded songs and a new bassist on You Made It This Far. Her third album, How Many Times, finds her working with an outside producer for the first time, namely Ross Farbe of NOLA synth pop outfit Video Age. Without making any jarring adjustments to her winsome, down-home approach, How Many Times slightly polishes production and expands arrangements, most notably adding electric guitarist Max Bien Kahn to her core band (fiddler Lyle Werner, lap steel guitarist Matt Bell, upright bassist Dan Cutler, and drummer Cameron Snyder). The musicians and Roses songcraft are both in top form of a set of spunky, heartbroken earworms, beginning with a title track that was written during a sober night of facing truths -- in this case, her relationship status. It opens with a moaning fiddle melody and sauntering rhythm section before Rose, who sports a breezy, conversational vocal tone, begins to recount her day. Quickly dissatisfied, the more emphatic chorus asks, How many times will you break my heart? (I thought I heard a sound/But theres no one else around...). She then picks up the tempo from toe-tapper to hip-shaker with the equally tuneful Keeps Me Running. The album continues to navigate brisk, cheerful ditties and more languid, regretful ones, though even a track like the musically bubbly Good Time offers Its a real good time for bad timing for its chorus hook. If theres a standout on the album, its likely My Bad Mood, a three-minute Western swing confection that includes a bona fide guitar solo, a verse melody that plays out like an elongated yodel, and the boyfriends new girlfriend. While Roses music certainly has indie crossover appeal, in the grand tradition of classic country, How Many Times is a relatable pick-me-up for those who may be feeling down. ~ Marcy Donelson