Julie Byrne’s 2014 debut had a tiny release but spread far afield through word-of-mouth: here, among a sea of folk sirens, was someone really worth tuning in to. A self-taught fingerpicker, this peripatetic American has a voice of rare elegance, pitched low and misty, and plenty of gentle significance to relay. On her second album, it glides across landscapes both external (Sea As It Glides) and internal (All the Land Glimmered), picking out detail others might not perceive. If anything, the lead track Natural Blue doesn’t sell her charms well enough. Abetted by some sparse orchestration, the beauty of Not Even Happiness takes effect even if you can’t make out Byrne’s measured poeticism: the voice is a balm.
