Mia Dai Todd: Songbook, Vol. 1

A hunkering sadness pervades the opening moments of Mia Dai Todd’s rendition “Only Love Can Break Your Heart”, the latest album from an independent singer-songwriter who’s been cracking at the music scene for almost two decades. Her avant-garde take on folk stylings have emotionally engaged her audience since 1997’s The Ewe and the Eye, and — breaking out the “like wine” trope, here — she’s only gotten better with age.

Songbook, her 2016 full-length effort, proves as much. Featuring a laidback instrumentation, Todd’s resonant, sweet vocals remain the glue that keeps the psychedelia tied together with lower-key reflections on life that feel more genuine and less indulgent as one might expect from a covers record.

As understandable as it might be for some to feel tired of a revered songwriter performing other people’s songs for the second consecutive album in a row, she does deliver the goods. All-in-all, Songbook still remains something worth giving an ear to — enough so that it would be a shame if the more belligerent among us were to not entertain it for reasons aforementioned.