By Ian Bremner

The career arc of Courtney Marie Andrews has been a slow burn. Perhaps her new material is the perfect metaphor for it. Fresh off the heels of her successful 2016 record, Honest Life, at the end of the wick is her newly released and triumphant follow up, May Your Kindness Remain.

There is a fresh sense of confidence in the new songs, but the longing, humanity, and the sincerity remains from before. Andrews’ voice often gets compared to Joni Mitchell, but on May Your Kindness Remain (both the song and album), her high country wail turns more soulful. There is still the slide guitar, but the gospel flair of the organ and background harmonies provide new depth.

Courtney Marie Andrews is capable of pulling out the most vivid memories and making them relatable to the listener. When she sings of her old home, dog buried in the backyard and all, being full of laughter and love, it takes you right back to your own home, own laughter, own love.

Maybe it’s the fact that there are two songs with “kindness” in the title, but something about Andrews’ music makes you want to be kinder to people. There is a down-home attitude and warmth to the entire record that make you want to be a better person; to pay more attention to small details, to take solace in the things you can control and make of the most of relationships with the people closest to you.

Listen to May Your Kindness Remain via spotify

Official video for Kindness of Strangers