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At Our Tables 8 ( 2008 )
$20 Shoes / Old Time Reckoning / Doesn't Mean A Thing / Failure To Thrive / I'm The Only One / Bird Of Youth / Jeannie Steps Out / Seven Winds / Blue Mood Words / Will-O-The-Wisp / The Day Before

I like the title, it's taken from the book 'For One More Day' by Mitch Albom. 'The Dead sit at our tables long after they have gone'. Post 9/11, Eileen put things into perspective and spent time with her family. This, her fourth album, was cut with her band 'The Holy Wreck' and she's been touring around and about, trying to finally get people shouting from the rooftops for her that isn't just Bob Harris on Radio 2. 'At Our Tables', originally released in March has now been reissued with a seven track live CD. It's an attractive package with a cardboard sleeve and nice pictures with an informative set of liner-notes, lyrics included.

Describing her sound isn't easy though, she plays something inbetween the boundaries of country/folk/rock/indie - without fitting comfortably into any of those categories. Occasionally her voice reminds me of Kate Bush yet she'll then twist a word by ending with a firmly American twang. All of these things are present on one of the standouts, the beautiful, thoughtful piano-ballad 'I'm The Only One'. Soft acoustic caresses against the falling piano-chords and she gently swoops in and out of the melodies.

'£20 Shoes' and 'Old Time Reckoning' make for an upbeat, hook laden start to the LP, 'Failure To Thrive' is an utter gem and songs like this and 'I'm The Only One' see that she's not afraid to poke fun at herself whilst writing an excellent song at the same time. 'Blue Mood Words' returns the album to uptempo fare at just the right stage after a number of ballads and cliche I know, but 'At Our Tables' just gets better and better the more you listen to it. What at first seems professional singer/songwriter/roots fare ends up being far more than that. She's got a way with a melody that's a rare gift these days.

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