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Any Better Time is another album sent to me by my friend Dan. He grew up living across the road from singer-songwriter Christine Santelli and he thought I might like this roots-infused album that she has recorded. Santelli has a voice that sounds like it is full of cigarettes and whisky. Various tracks on this album encourage comparisons with people like Bonnie Raitt and Melissa Etheridge but Santelli occupies her own space, playing an interesting mix of folk-country-rock... or something like that. This is her seventh album and it is very good.

Good Day For A Hangin' opens the album nicely. It is rocky and showcases Santelli's vocals. I like this song except for one annoying bit where she sings "I just can't seem to stop smoking" in a space where it doesn't quite fit. This sounds like something that could be a nice feature when done live as a variation but I'm not sure it works on an album. That said, it annoys me less after quite a few listens than it did the first time I heard it. There are a couple of other times on the album where similar, uncomfortable phrasing is used.

The album's standout track is Guilty, a tale of love gone wrong set in an excellent mid-paced ballad and carried by excellent performances from the entire band. The next track Ponytails is a pretty, optimistic folk-country ballad. This is followed by the title track, which is a piano led number that bops along a little more than many other songs on the album, although Santelli's voice keeps things firmly on the ground. Down In The Valley, a gospel-country-ish song, follows.

Butterfly is probably my least favourite song on the album. It is quite poppy and pretty, but perhaps a little trite - to me it actually sounds like a cover that I might have heard played in a restaurant back in the late 1980s. I think the production on the drums contributes to this feeling.

The album has a good amount of variation. Calgary is another folky ballad that features some nice violin playing, Lily's Song is pure country and Brown Haired Girl is beautiful and folky. Ode To Bill is a blues-rock song featuring some searing lead guitar playing that interacts wonderfully with Santelli's vocals. The closer On The Farm is a delightful down-home country stomp.

I won't dissect this album any more. Any Better Time is a very good album - just short of being great - and I'm listening to it a lot. I'd actually like to listen to some of Chistine Santelli's other albums and I really think I'd enjoy seeing her live.