Archetypal psychology and country music are infrequent co-travellers, but north Californian Rita Hosking is an unusual songwriter and one who spent 14 years as a teacher before taking up music. Here she puts aside her usual social commentary to explore what James Hillman called “the hero’s journey”; a reckoning with hope, disappointment and hard-won wisdom. At times the songs seem too abstract and elliptical, but grounding images of mountain life are always at hand while Hosking has a sure musical touch and a distinctive homespun vocal style to carry songs like the yearning Magic Carpet, the depressed Black Hole and the transformative Spirit Canoe. It emerges, alongside Anaïs Mitchell’s Hadestown, as one of Americana’s finest concept albums.
