Recommendation: Megan Munroe – One More Broken String
Do angels sneer?
Apparently, when placed in the role of the long-suffering wife Megan Munroe voices in numbers like 
“Leavin’ Memphis,” they do.
Jarring may be the word that best describes Munroe’s music. The honey-voiced Washington-born, Nashville transplant sounds like she should be singing in the church choir. However, her sophomore album One More Broken String proves she isn’t afraid to raise some musical hell. In the follow-up to her 2006 debut Married to the Melody, Munroe sprinkles her blend of country, bluegrass, gospel, and blues with enough vinegar to counter the sweet tones she uses to relate a collection of tales about saints and sinners.
The fiery story song “Leavin’ Memphis” is the album’s most immediately memorable. The tale follows a Tennessee spitfire who won’t allow her philandering husband the satisfaction of leaving her. After he dares to rob her of the cash in her purse and her automobile, the woman tracks her man down in Santa Cruz, scoffing that “He ain’t leavin’ me with no broken promises/two kids, a mortgage/a busted fridge he never fixed.” With subtle humor, the narrator notes the dust on her new truck with irritation before storming in on her husband and his mistress. Ultimately, she cautions other women from following in her footsteps, even as she drags her significant other back home.
Equally surprising is the sultry “Good Fight,” a number that champions the healthy nature of arguments between a couples and the resulting make-up sex. The pre-chorus breathlessly chronicles the rising tension in the room: “You raise your voice/I turn my back/You’re letting go/I’m cutting you slack/I take a deep breath/You hold your own/And just like that we’ve grown.” Once the tempest subsides, the couple can’t come together quickly enough.
Inner conflicts weigh heavily on Munroe’s mind. The fiddle-laden opening track “Angel on My Shoulder (Devil on Back)” recounts the age old quandary of a narrator stuck between following her conscience and giving in to darker desires. “I’ve got scars all across this heart I call temptation’s tattoo,” she admits, resolving to walk the fine line between wrong and right. The song stretches about a minute too long, but features a thundering conclusion.
Even though “Leavin’ Memphis” and “Good Fight” revolve around staying together (in the former’s case under less than ideal circumstances), Munroe also sings evocatively about the immediate rush of emotions in the wake of a relationship’s demise. In “Nothing is Easy Anymore” a woman is besieged by reminders of a recently departed love and a string of mishaps that mirror her weary mood. She’s well-aware of own state of denial: “I will say I’m doing fine/It’s just the same old tired line/I’ve said before.” There’s a certain beauty in her unwavering determination to carry on despite being “a little left of center/a little stuck.” However, it’s the vulnerability expressed in “Lonely Tonight” that may best capture the pain of a woman who belatedly realizes “there’s no regets/no second guesses” allowed in life. Munroe’s plain-spoken acknowledgement of the wasted time that she must now confront provides one of the album’s best vocal performances.
Munroe is beginning to gain traction internationally, with radio airplay in countries ranging from Switzerland to Australia. Perhaps it’s time for the United States to catch up.
Very nice review! :)