Ashley Brooke Toussant is a talented singer-songwriter who was born in Kent, OH. After spending time living in Chicago, Toussant moved back and is once again calling Northeast Ohio home.
Toussant is currently hard at work creating her second release. That release, Sweetheart, is still a few months from being completed. When it is done, Sweetheart will be the first album from Ashley Brooke Toussant, which will join her current release, 2008’s All Songs in English.
All Songs in English is a five-song EP that features a folk-oriented feel to the music. For the release, Toussant wrote and sang the songs while other talented musicians handled the actual playing of the music. Each musician involved helped create a release that features many different approaches to the music.
The first track of All Songs in English is “Way Up in the Tree”. The accordion played by Michael Ramos gives the song a slightly French flavor to it, all while giving it a laidback feel.
“In My Dream,” the EP’s second track, has a slightly more upbeat approach to the music. One of the elements that make the song unique is that along with the standard instruments like guitar, bass and percussion, the track also features harpist Aviva Jaye Mitchell. Mitchell’s harp and background vocals really make the track shine.
“Sing Me to Sleep” is the third song on All Songs in English by Ashley Brooke Toussant. With a title like “Sing Me to Sleep,” you would expect an almost lullaby-like approach to the song. However, the track has as much energy as either of the songs that came before. The change from the expected is a nice surprise.
“Amelia Jane,” the fourth song of the disc, is probably the strongest track of any of the songs on the All Songs in English release by Ashley Brooke Toussant. With the mandolin and dobro of John Rice, “Amelia Jane” is the track that has the most folk feeling of any of the five songs on the release. The song would also feel right at home being played by Jim Blum of Folk Alley from Toussant’s hometown of Kent.
All Songs in English from Ashley Brooke Toussant comes to a close with the song “Lullaby”. Unlike the song “Sing Me to Sleep,” which has a stronger approach than one might expect, the pace of “Lullaby” is just right. One could imagine singing the song to put the infant to sleep. The slow pace of the track is a nice and easy way to bring the CD to a close.
If you are a fan of folk music, All Songs in English by Ashley Brooke Toussant is a release to check out. It is also a good way to bridge the time gap between now and when Toussant’s newest release, Sweetheart, comes out in a few months.
Ashley Brooke Toussant will be in concert on Saturday, July 23rd as a part of the Burning River Fest. For complete details on the event, visit their website.
