AMG Review of Long, Lovely List of Repairs

Ronnie D. Lankford
All Music Guide

Amelia isn't another pop singer missing her last name, but a quartet with singer-drummer Teisha Helgerson and multiple instrumentalists Scott Weddle, Jesse Emerson, and Mark Orton. With a breathy, mid-range vocalist and three multiple instrumentalists, Amelia displays a great deal of versatility on A Long, Lovely List of Repairs. Perhaps the title will seem a bit nonsensical, but it does a good job at suggesting the smoky Americana that the band delivers on songs like "Tragedy" and "Farewell." While the arrangements vary quite a bit, they work toward a similar spacious sound, creating lots of atmosphere. In this sense, Amelia generates a down-to-earth vibe that lands somewhere between the Be Good Tanyas and the Tarbox Ramblers (that might be thought of as neo-Americana). This works wonderfully when Amelia remembers to switch tempos from song to song, but less well when a mellow song like "After You" feeds into a mellow song like "Try." When this happens, A Long, Lovely List of Repairs begins to sound like an arty version of Norah Jones' Feels Like Home. This becomes more of a problem as the album reaches the halfway point, and one starts to realize that Amelia just isn't too big on up-tempo songs. Taken one at a time, many of the songs on A Long, Lovely List of Repairs might stand out on the radio; as a whole piece, though, the album lacks the variety needed to match its lovely atmosphere.