Debra-Jeen Creelman
Railtown Sessions Volume 4 (Light Organ)

Change is important, and that’s something Debra-Jean Creelman seems to have seized upon with her Railtown Sessions Volume 4.

The one-time Mother Mother member’s older work with her backing band the Means suggested a deep love for what might best be described as soul-train country. Railtown Sessions Volume 4 has her branching out in gritty new directions, while once again proving she’s got one of the most powerful—albeit undiscovered—voices in the city.

The four-song EP gets off to a fantastically abrasive start with “Maybe They Were Right”, which gives you a good idea of what Neil Young’s Crazy Horse might sound like if it sat in with Portishead. “Midnight Sun” serves up the Muscle Shoals sound while adding a coat of DIY grit, and “Up in Smoke” is ethereal jazz geared to the 2 a.m. crowd at Twin Peaks’ Black Lodge.

And just when you think Creelman can’t get any better, she does her best to out-torch Lana Del Rey on the closing “In the Dark”.