With Esther Rose's third album, How Many Times, there's this sense of vulnerability that is much more open than ever before. Yet again, her music feels like a certain moment of time (this time being heartbreak) captured with a sense of sadness and wit that can only be Esther Rose.
Esther Rose, the New Orleans-based singer songwriter, is one of my favorite voices in music today. Her softly sung, sometimes cracked voice on songs about both love and heartbreak and picturesque storytelling, Esther Rose comes across as homegrown and DIY. She has this warm, comforting combo of folk, country, and Americana that I can't seem to get enough of over the past couple of years. Her debut record This Time Last Night back in 2017 had the organic, quaint sonics of a lo-fi chicken scratched cafe in a hometown with a population of around 40 people. Overall, what a lovely record that is often addicting to hear. The same goes for her next record, You Made It This Far, one that features a cleaner sound, but all the warmth and care that was put into previously. Her personality and wit is spread across the listener like your mother's knitted placemat along with a plate of bacon and eggs and a diner mug of black coffee (with a hint of half and half). She's even got a song about a youthful female chicken doing her dance of empowerment ("The Yard Dance") and one about Esther and her daughter's ritual drive to high school and the reliance and necessity of their friendship ("Five Minute Drive").
Esther Rose's approach to songwriting and her band's organic and relaxed but focused musicianship is what keeps me coming back again and again. How Many Times, her brand new record, has cleaner and clearer production than You Made It This Far. It's a step up sonically, but of course it's not so clear that it takes away from Rose's voice or her themes of stories. This time though, there is a lot more heartbreak than the in love side of things. How Many Times is indeed a breakup record with Rose detailing her feelings on the subject. It's not completely dreary or sad though (there's still plenty of that). There's still the humor that she always seems to be carrying with her. The typical stylings you've heard from her previously of folk, country and Americana are here, but with a bolder and fresher approach. She seems to be very confident and keeps her feet up on "Keeps Me Running," the album's peppy and steady lead single. "Good Time" may be her most explosive and prominent song to date with a fiery blend of guitars and vocals.
The album's title track (and opener) is a stunning moment of isolated loneliness and heartbreak that is one of her most tear-shedding moments laid to tape: "I thought I heard a sound, but there's no one else around" / "I'm never hungry and I'm never full." "Me and My Bad Mood" is a soured throw down of what's intended to be best for you (or maybe your ex instead?). "Coyote Creek" is the starry-skied acoustic ballad laid out across the desert floor. "When You Go" has some of the best pacing on the record and "Songs Remain" is one of her best written and sung acoustic performances yet. "Mountaintop" is a straight up banger with perky galloping grooves with the best guitar licks and fiddle playing on the record. "Are You Out There" is quite stunningly beautiful with Rose's vocals and grand, classic instrumentation of guitars and slide guitar (reminiscent to a solid Father John Misty ballad from I Love You, Honeybear. It kind of sounds like a cover of a classic standard almost.
Instrumentally and stylistically, if you loved her other songs and records, you will most certainly love it here. Overall, her music tends to sound very familiar, charming, and inviting but on How Many Times, there's this sense of vulnerability that is much more open than ever before. Her heartbreak is affected and documented on this record in a way that seems to be very insightful and retrospective, where Esther seems to be growing from it and moving forward. I've thoroughly enjoyed This Time Last Night and You Made It This Far for their specific and unique charms and takes. How Many Times has these specific tendencies that I do enjoy. Yet again, her music feels like a certain moment of time, this time heartbreak, captured with a sense of sadness and wit that can only be Esther Rose.
My Rating: 8 / 10
Favorite Songs: "How Many Times," "When You Go," "Good Time," "Mountaintop," "Are You Out There"
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