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Mojo ~ July 2003-07-01

Oh Susanna
**** (4 stars)

It's been six years since Oh Susanna's first, self-titled record - a self-funded EP released as Suzie Ungerleider - established her as a new name on the Canadian folk club circuit. Acclaim for the former librarian has been wide-reaching since, thanks to tours in the UK and US and two full-length CDs: 1999's "Johnstown", a stark, haunting, folk-Americana concept album, and 2001's "Sleepy Little Sailor", its fleshed-out, almost rock band follow-up. if the real Oh Susanna falls somwhere between those two poles, then the eponymous title suits this new record with its mix of fragile and full-on numbers. At times she still sounds like the missing link between Dolly Parton and Sinead O'Connor (high, pure Carrie Lee, spare, intimate Billy), but overall she sounds solid country, a real contender.
-Sylvie Simmons