Sarah Jarosz Build Me Up From Bones LP

TAS Rated 4/5 Music, 4/5 Sonics in the September 2021 Issue of The Absolute Sound!

First released in 2013, Build Me Up From Bones - Sarah Jarosz's third Sugar Hill Records release - finds the singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist exhibiting an assured and striking musical voice, proving the promise of her early acclaim.

Upon initial release, the album reached #1 in the Americana Chart. It features the title track "Build Me Up From Bones," GRAMMY®-nominated for Best American Roots Song, as well as covers of Joanna Newsom's "The Book Of Right-On" and Bob Dylan's "Simple Twist of Fate" which reflect the breadth of Jarosz's evolving influences.

Jarosz lets her considerable instrumental prowess submit itself to serving the needs of her songs instead of merely adorning them with a precocious imagination. She can do this because she possesses not only self confidence in her material, but in her discernment, which is rare for a musician so young.

This is where her songwriting firmly takes hold; consider it a launching pad for a career that remains on a steep trajectory.

...an organic masterwork for Jarosz, a warm, nuanced collection that wraps and enchants the listener.

Much like her peers Norah Jones and Alison Krauss, Texas native Sarah Jarosz makes music flutters like a ripple in the space-time continuum, warping listeners joyously between the worlds of folk, country, jazz and pop. Fairly remarkable for an artist barely into her 20s, and even more stunning when listening to her wise, polished original compositions and her thoughtfully chosen covers on this reissue of her 2013 album. Jarosz clearly struck a nerve within the Americana scene considering the level of talent that buzz around her musical flame, like Nickel Creek member Chris Thile, vocalist (and future I'm With Her bandmate) Aoife O’Donovan, Alison's brother Viktor Krauss and legendary guitarist Jerry Douglas. I found myself returning frequently to the title track, a jangling love song that aches with desire and regret given smoldering energy by Jarosz's harmonies with O'Donovan and a pitch-perfect cello solo. And as a longtime Joanna Newsom fan, I couldn't help but adore Jarosz's take on 'The Book of Right-On' that keeps the original's devilish bounce but paints it in psychedelic colors.

The wow factor kicks in from the needle drop - 'Over the Edge,' co-written by Jarosz and Jedd Hughes, grips you with a sense of urgency and soaring lap steel by Dan Dugmore. But Jarosz's real strength lies in her skill as a poet, the intimacy of her lyrics, and almost mystical vocal presence. Her soothing, laidback voice is reminiscent of Kacey Musgraves, and in a perfect world Jarosz would be as famous - listen as she wraps her velvet voice around a tender, jazzy reading of Dylan's 'Simple Twist of Fate.' Jarosz's banjo chops shine on 'Rearrange the Art' and 'Gone Too Soon,' and her mandolin colors the romantic title track and a playful cover of Joanna Newsom's 'The Book of Right On.' Sonically, Craft has hit the mark.