Mindy Smith: One Moment More : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Though she grew up on Long Island, Mindy Smith is a child of the new Nashville, the town that spits out a million-dollar songwriter every ten minutes and pop stars disguised as country acts on the hour. In a sense, One Moment More is unspectacular: The arrangements are expertly crafted but not particularly striking, and one can practically see the drafting lines on the songs themselves, so clearly have they been modeled on classic country and pop songs. But Smith's voice is marvelous -- it bends and dips at unexpected moments, then swings seamlessly from pissed to tender, from smoky-strong to little-girlie. Patty Griffin is more raw, Gillian Welch more moody, but Smith borrows a page from both of those singers and synthesizes them into a pretty package wrapped up with shout-outs to Jesus. The pure, cold-water charm of her sangin' on "Train Song" is undeniable, but "Come to Jesus" is better still: When Smith launches into a bluegrass holler of the words "Worry not, my daughter," the soul underneath the sentimentality is spine-chilling.

PAT BLASHILL
(RS 941, February 5, 2004)