These Friends of Mine

iTunes Review

Recorded at Sufjan Stevens’ Brooklyn apartment and Denison Witmer’s home in Philadelphia with a couple of open microphones, Rosie Thomas’ fourth album, These Friends of Mine is, as you might expect, an intimate collection of personal folk songs that recall the early Palace Brothers in their unvarnished splendor. Thomas enlisted the help of Stevens, Denison Witmer and Josh Myers for a small ensemble set-up that recorded the tunes as quickly as she could write them. Various assemblages of backing vocalists (Damien Jurado, Dave Bazan, Jeremy Enigk on the title track) gently augment the sparse vibe. Friendly chatter between the participants adds to the casual air that settles for lo-fi but never sloppy indulgence. Covers of R.E.M.’s “The One I Love” and Fleetwood Mac’s “Songbird” are given a solemnity that’s both touching in its whispered sincerity and slightly stiff. Thomas’ own tunes are informed by her immediate reactions and impressions of New York City where her romantic artistic dreams are sent spinning into the subways and overwhelmed by the panoramic views that always threaten to dwarf the fragile soul.