Damsel in Distress by Sue Fink

a Review by Amy Lotsberg Producer of Collected Sounds

My first impression of Sue Fink was that she reminded me of Christine Lavin. She has that same charming type of vocal style. Once I've listened to the lyrics I realize that she is similar to Lavin in songwriting as well.*

It's a style I really enjoy. The well written story song with clever lyrics and more than a little humor.

The melodies are simple and sort of predicable, but that's OK because it's the words to which you should be paying attention. The instrumentation is similarly minimalistic. (see how I used three big words in one short sentence?)

The Saga of Pearl (It's Not You) is a great song about how we should not always blame ourselves when relationships don't work out the way we hoped. Sometimes it isn't us!

The title song Damsel in Distress sounds like it could be a children's song. It's so cheery and simple sounding. But it's about something very real, people who put themselves in trouble just so that someone will come by and rescue them. "Help me, help me, Damsel in distress, I want your attention so I get into a mess." We've all known folks like that right?

This isn't something I would choose to listen to every day, but it's cute, charming and a good choice if you like this type of old school folk.

*I promise you I wrote that before I read that she has been compared to C.L. a lot and has even sung with her.

Posted on December 07, 2007