Lindi Ortega - Tin Star (2013)

Nashville is brimming with young female artists offering a refreshingly acerbic take on country. Lindi Ortega – a Canadian relocated to Tennessee – deserves to be counted among them, with what sounds like it could be a breakthrough set. The title track, more or less a country ballad take on the hard-slog-of-rubbish-gigs detailed by AC/DC on It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock'n'Roll), establishes her bona fides, but there's a vivacity across Tin Star that makes her sound anything but a struggler. Voodoo Mama and I Want You take another currently fashionable Nashville trope – the raucous rockabilly style that Jack White's Third Man Recordings celebrates so often – to barnstorming effect. Even when Lived and Died Alone delves into almost parodic country misery, the attention to detail is magnificent: very gently brushed snare makes the song sound like a sad, slow shiver.