Tracy McNeil showed flashes of brilliance on her previous album and she’s taken that one step further with a more consistent set of songs on Thieves. There’s a laid-back smooth quality to McNeil’s music that recalls US west coast FM rock of the late 70’s with warm harmonies, swaying guitar lines and a general uplifting quality, even in her darker moments. CSNY and Fleetwood Mac fuse in a gentle Americana sound as McNeil sings of love, heartache, loss and distance via styles that range from the crazily catchy Paradise to the atmospheric-laden epic White Rose. There’s a new sense of maturity and confidence to McNeil’s writing that finds her expanding her songwriting palette with extremely rewarding results.

Chris Familton