No Ones Slate is Clean

On the fourth album by Arizonian songwriter Courtney Marie Andrews, distance makes the heart grow stronger. As she tours the world, her confidence grows and her belief system hardens against the oppression of poverty (“Monkey on a Chain”), and shame-ridden religion (“Georgia Guilt”). “I’ve heard longing can turn into a creature of fear,” she sings on “Unbalanced Suns”, and urges wanderers towards the road. Her tough words find a counterbalance in her soft guitar, which eddies and swells.