Some albums make you work to get to the inside, others hold the door open and welcome you in- that’s the kind of record Better Part Of Me is. Acoustically driven with gentle melodies and outstanding playing, it’s like a warm hug with a side of great stories.

Better Part Of Me feels sort of like a cross between early Shawn Colvin and Lucinda Williams, a combination of sweet and sad messages couched in disarming melodies. It goes from the straight up romance of God Did Me A Favor to the environmental message behind Halfway To Jesus. Of that song Dulcie says “Our planet is suffering through ravaging climactic change that has brought on catastrophic storms, commonly called ‘1000 year storms’, indicating how rare they should be” she notes. “We must take action to save our planet.” To which I would add to save ourselves.

Produced by George Nauful, co-produced by Damon Castillo and Dulcie Taylor, Better Part Of Me has an easy, un-crowded pace that almost makes you feel like you were there in the studio. Lots of people took part here, too many to mention. “I am so thankful to have such incredibly talented people to work with” Taylor says about the sessions that led to this album. “I trust them, I thoroughly enjoy their company, I share their aesthetic values and we have a lot of fun together.” That feeling and spirit is quite palpable, in the grooves and in between the lines.

Better Part Of Me will never fill the dance floor, nor was it ever meant to. Rather than encouraging us to lurch about in some sort of semi-rhythmic, spastic fashion, it offers something far more satisfying; an intimate conversation that goes right to the soul. This one will stick with me for a very long time.

KEY CUTS: Used To Know It All, Halfway To Jesus, Better Part Of Me

Better Part Of Me starts at 22:45