Country and folk music have become a lot more sophisticated over the last ten years or so. Gone are the wailing laments, tales of drinkin’, divorce and beatings. Gone too are the foot tappin’, bend an elbow Nine To Five dirges. Mary Chapin Carpenter has made an album which puts the nail in the coffin of that era. This being a good or bad thing depends on your own personal taste.

Time Sex Love still deals with subject matter like the old reliable bad love affair, but in the lyrical quality of each song, in the smooth production, it is genuine new country… not concerned with being formulaic and commercial like, oooh… Garth Brooks.

Carpenter’s voice on the chorus of the third track, ‘Swept Away’, is so smooth it’s scary. Scary in a haunting way, of course. This album is designed to sell on the quality of that voice and the strength of the songs.

There are up tempo tracks like ‘The Long Way Home’ and ‘This Is Me Leaving You’, but the real strength after a few listens lies in the slower, heartfelt country ballads.

Mary has earned her genre of music at least one new fan.