“We Had to Meet,” about an inevitable (even destined?) love affair, opens the fourth album by Milwaukee’s Peggy James. Love is the collection’s dominant theme, but she veers into existential uncertainty on the edgy pop of “X-Files” (“Brace yourself, here comes another guess”) before returning to romance on the country pop ballad “An Hour With You.” A more emotionally painful affair is traced out in the moody rocker “Lover,” whose haunting bridge conjures “Rhiannon”-era Fleetwood Mac.
“I don’t try to write in certain genres. Every song is different,” James says. Yet there is an organic consistency to Nothing in Between, sonically and lyrically. James’ melodies and words slide out together like twins from the womb—the emotional tone of one triggering the tone of the other.
Unlike her previous album, Joan of Arc (2010), whose backing tracks were performed in their entirety by engineer-producer Jim Eannelli, Nothing in Between features a handful of well-chosen Milwaukee musicians. Victor Span and Kim Zick trade off on drums. Zick’s partner in Mrs. Fun, Connie Grauer, handles keyboards. Peter Roller’s pedal steel guitar deepens the resonance of the melancholy, reflective ballad “Ghost.” Susan Nicholson adds some lively fiddling to the old-time country in a humorous tale of marital discord, “In One Ear (And Out the Other).” Eannelli is the constant on guitar and bass.
Whether on the boot-kicking country-rock of “Gotta Have a Love” or the almost folk-rock jangle of “I Wish You Well,” James sings with uncommon yearning and depth. With minimal fuss and bother, Eannelli captures the magic of particular moments—and there are many of those—on Nothing in Between.
