Sub Pop Records

At their best, well-written, expertly-executed songs do more than just tell a story & they pose important questions. On If Songs Could Be Held, her third full-length for Sub Pop, Seattle songwriter/vocalist Rosie Thomas approaches the sometimes difficult but universal topics of introspection, identity and love with bravery, honesty, and above all, stunning beauty. These songs aren’t all about Thomas’ personal experience, however. This departure into the fictitious is only the first of numerous artistic stretches from 2003’s Only With Laughter Can You Win and Thomas’ 2001 Sub Pop debut, When We Were Small. Making a concerted effort to remove herself from her comfort zone, the Seattleite went so far as to pack her bags and work on the new album amidst the hustle and heat of Los Angeles. Thomas may have already sounded angelic before recording in the City of Angels, but the bold resolution in her voice this time around was certainly born of the strength she gained taking chances.

“I felt that in order to push myself musically, I would have to take myself outside of what is familiar,” Thomas, who approached her songwriting technique and vocal delivery using a fresh methodology during the recording process, explains. Her intense focus and admirable openness paid off: from the palpably raw explorations of learning to love on “Guess It May” to her warm duet with songwriter Ed Harcourt on “Let It Be Me,” If Songs Could Be Held exists as Thomas’ masterwork, lyrically painted with a bright and dynamic emotional palette. Her themes are thick with literary foils: delicate, but steeped in innate strength. Thomas examines femininity as well on “Time Goes Away,” based on her mother’s stories. “Pretty Dress…