Rosie Thomas – These Friends of Mine
The fourth album from Rosie Thomas, with immeasurable assists from Sufjan Stevens and Denison Witmer, reflects compatibility and creative amiability. Modesty amplifies those qualities: Stevens and Witmer contentedly hold background roles and let Thomas tell her stories in a voice that evokes the aching feminine strength of Shawn Colvin without merely echoing it.
The album was recorded at Stevens’ Brooklyn apartment, and Thomas invokes New York City in several of the songs, including the forlorn opener “If This City Never Sleeps” and the gently sweeping “Much Farther To Go”, on which Denison and Stevens provide vocal backup as though reassuring Thomas she’s not alone.
In return, Thomas does versions of songs her two pals have performed live: R.E.M.’s “The One I Love” for Stevens, and Fleetwood Mac’s “Songbird” for Witmer. They initially stick out for their familiarity, but Thomas renders them with the same simple radiance she puts into her own songs.
Thomas closes with the title track, a hopeful au revoir to Witmer, Stevens and her other companions. The charm of These Friends Of Mine lies in how easily she can make a listener feel part of the fellowship.