Scout Niblett - This Fool Can Die Now

Emma Louise Niblett may have adopted her pseudonym from To Kill A Mocking Bird, but it appears to be the only bit of theatricality on This Fool Can Die Now. Undulating from sparse country to pounding fuzzy rock, sometimes within the same song, Scout lays her heart on the line seemingly just for us. "If I'm to be the fool, then so be it," she intones before leading up to the album's title. Intermittently, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy pops up to provide some dusky duets, producing some of the album's highlights. Building up to the crescendo of Kiss, both taking vocal turns before joyously combining for the beautiful refrain of "That kiss could've killed me, were it not for the rain," provides a moment where majestic doesn't seem too strong a word. It's a tad on the long side perhaps, but as we all know, you can't hurry love, right? [Darren Carle]