Album Notes

Big Sky Dreams, review by Jason Randall Smith

Stepping away from the direct world fusion influence of her first album Amazon Calling, Montana-based artist Linda Foy immersed herself in electronic music’s beat-driven sectors and has returned with an ethereal pop album that’s as accessible as it is angelic. Big Sky Dreams is a heavenly marriage of heartfelt machine music and dreamy guitar loops. It’s as if Moby sat down with Cocteau Twins and discussed ideas about a side project. Right from the opening title track, you are ushered into a world flooded with the sounds of nature and meditative chants. As Foy’s exquisite vocals soar to the heavens, an angular rhythm kicks in. Its off-kilter syncopation keeps you on your toes and prepares you to expect the unexpected for the rest of the album.
The fast-paced skittering breaks of “Tall Grass” dissolves into the waves crashing on “Like Nothing Else.” Linda’s vocals float amongst swirling guitars during the verses and lands on accompanying bongos as she belts out the chorus. The sounds of the London Underground transit system permeate “Mind The Gap” as Foy searches for answers within her lyrics. “Mind the gap between love and truth / on this sad and bitter commute / On the train I empty my mind / trying to read between the lines.” Even though she warns the listener to “mind your heart when he tells you he loves you,” the next song finds her in a more romantic spirit and perhaps a warmer climate as well. The bossa nova rhythm of “A Praia” is playful and relaxing, consisting of various types of Latin percussion, handclaps, birds overhead, and the ocean under your feet. Foy actually sounds somewhat surprised as she sings, “I never knew that I could be loved so completely.”
The musical aura of Big Sky Dreams can’t help but find itself beyond the clouds, but folksy elements throughout the album provide an earthy quality, keeping the compositions tethered and grounded. “I Only Want” showcases this best as an acoustic guitar melody acts as the root from which the rest of the song grows. As Linda layers her voice for sweet harmonies, light rhythmic plucks and shakes move the song along before the beat kicks in. The drums remain a quiet march, never overpowering the instrumentation that came before it. “Just Stop” is introduced by tablas rumbling and the march from the previous song appears again, this time using a sonic smack as its snare. “After all we’ve been through,” Linda affirms, “I must stop loving you.” Despite Foy’s gentle intonations, the forcefulness of the snare confirms that the relationship has reached its end.
Along with the strains of folk music found throughout this album are moments where its imperfections allow for human influence to reign over the machine. For instance, at some point on “Listen To My Heart,” the guitars and programmed drums are slightly out of sync with each other. It’s not a perfect environment and there’s something endearing about that. “Grace And Favour” is one of the most rhythmically aggressive songs on the album, but that human element creeps in again in terms of when the beat starts and stops. It leaves us to wonder if these songs were recorded live and in one take, capturing a moment that isn’t over-rehearsed, but genuine and true to the time that it was captured.
There’s a lot to love on Big Sky Dreams, not the least of which is Linda Foy’s stellar talents as a singer and songwriter. From beginning to end, this is an album that will caress your ears, lift your spirits, and open your mind as wide as the Montana sky that inspired this release.