Classically-trained New York-via-Nevada singer Sunny Ozell earned comparisons to veteran bluegrass/country/folk singer-songwriter Gillian Welch, jazz singer Cassandra Wilson, and blue-eyed soul singer Adele after the release of her debut album Take it With Me in 2015. Having found success in reimagining classic Americana, blues, and jazz numbers, Ozell has been utilizing her own songwriting skills for her forthcoming sophomore album Overnight Lows.
Her new single "The Garden" precedes her appearance in the UK as a special guest for folk-rock duo The Rails. The leisurely and introspective tune showcases her casually sultry vocals once again, this time in the service of some thoughtful and intimate lyrics. Ozell's much-publicized marriage to British actor Patrick Stewart certainly appears to be the inspiration here. There's a poetic retelling of a courtship ('You aimed an arrow for my heart/ But you missed/ I was pursued/ Those eyes were so blue/ Now there’s a stranger in my head at night') and hints of a tumultuous beginning ('We weren’t ready/ Of that you’ll agree/ What we had was sad and flawed but free').
For the most part, however, the song is sung from the comfortable vantage point of going down memory lane during a period of emotional stability: 'Time has allowed the distance/ To gaze through the clouds/ And sift through all those pearls of memories that last'. Ozell conjures a beguiling atmosphere of hard-won domestic bliss, punctuated by the enviable prospect of taking a nighttime stroll in the garden with her significant other. "The Garden" is an understatedly beautiful ballad-esque folk-blues song with a timeless feel that rewards multiple listens, ideally during a nostalgia-tinged afternoon or evening.
