April Martin
In the Blink of a Life
(Shrimp Toast Music)

The simply strummed acoustic and soft bongos of “One Breath” opens April Martin’s 13-song In the Blink of a Life album. With some soft backing vocals from Peter Calo (who plays guitar here, too) and Susan Didrichsen, this opening sweet folk tune sets us up nicely for what follows from NYC singer-songwriter Martin. “My Rock and My Rain” has some well-placed electric work from Calo and drummer Chris Marshak creating a nice mid-tempo love tune. When we get back to the simple, nearly just-acoustic treatment on “Every Day I Love You More,” I feel Martin’s skills at songwriting come to the fore. I like when we get songs of common themes treated uniquely, as the theme here is. This is a very pretty ode to love that has lasted a long time. There is some nice atmospheric treatment here and Marshak lays well back. “All I’ve Got” gets us back up moving with Marshak’s snapping snare and Calo’s expert second guitar playing. Once again, the backing vocals from Didrichsen makes this one even richer. The jumpy, country plod of “The Party’s In Full Swing” is a hoot (what great, nasty lyrics and singable chorus). A mandolin leads “Life Is Good” (Martin’s vocals here are especially spot-on) and then “Praise the Morning,” with some more of that sweet strummed acoustic, nice backing vocals again (though kind of trite lyrics) ends In the Blink of a Life. Folk, country, and a little more go into the expert songwriting, solid singing, and effective yet simple production of April Martin’s In the Blink of a Life.