The world in which we live is a noisy one. All day, long we’re bombarded, our senses assaulted from this side and that; sometimes it seems we’re going to explode. We need refuge from it all, just to keep sane: an oasis, a safe and quiet place to park our brains and be reminded that it doesn’t always have to be like that. That’s what I’m With Her offers. The trio—Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz and Aoife O’Donovan—has crafted a debut recording as cozy as a warm, familiar blanket. The harmonies are so close and pure
that you may forget you’re listening to three people.The beauty is echoed by the simple, uncluttered, mostly acoustic instrumentation–story songs that speak directly to your
heart and mind. Of its dozen songs,all but one (Gillian Welch’s set-closing “Hundred Miles”) were written by the three women, who co-produced the recording along with Ethan Johns. Their words echo long after the music’s gone because they are words that feel like home: “Overland” speaks of a long-ago time when we were on the move, searching for a better life, packing nothing but hope. “Ryland (Under the Apple Tree)” recalls undiluted love. (“Come September we’ll be swimmin’ in cider, and we’ll press the fruit into butter and we’ll bake it into pies.”) There are moments of tension and trouble, of course—this is real life, not fantasyland. But it’s when I’m With Her sing, “I hear you loud and clear through all the din and commotion, I hear you loud and clear,” that we sigh and say thank you for voices ringing with knowledge and confidence. They sing the truth.