All of It Was Mine

On her debut album, All of It Was Mine, the Weather Stations Tamara Lindeman was already at a crossroads between the folk of her early EPs and the styles she embraced later in her career. Her immersion in Torontos thriving acoustic scene comes to the fore on the records first half, which delivers some of the purest folk in her body of work. The jangly, wildflower beauty of Everything I Saw (on which Lindeman sings the praises of digging up carrots and cheap cotton skirts) is a highlight, as is the beautiful fingerpicking on Came So Easy. The live feeling of All of It Was Mines recording spotlights the nuances of Lindemans playing and especially her singing. Her voice takes on a cozy glow on Running Around Asking and a silvery, Joni Mitchell-like cast on Traveller. However, anytime Lindeman seems too indebted to tradition, she turns it on its head. The banjo and pedal steel on Trying have a nostalgic pull, but the song closes on an ambivalent tone that feels decidedly modern. Similarly, theres steeliness as well as sweetness on Know It to See It, and If Ive Been Fooled is a lullaby about lies that shows Lindeman is more than willing to subvert song forms. As the album comes to a close, she also nods toward the artful instrumentation that blossomed on the Weather Stations later releases. Strings and reverb-heavy backing vocals give Yarrow and Mint an otherworldly quality; an electric guitar echoes the clipped twang of her vocals on Chip on My Shoulder; and Nobodys rock unfolds in triumphant slow motion. Ultimately, All of It Was Mines simplicity is as confident and fully realized as the more ambitious sounds Lindeman tackled on The Weather Station and Ignorance. ~ Heather Phares