Ever since Laura Veirs ditched us and Seattle for Tucker Martine and Portland (thus, of course, following the way of all Puget Sound bands of the last 20 years), we’ve been in search of a new secret blog girl crush. (That’s right, Laura, it’s over between us. How dare you betray our unrequited love for cheaper housing prices and tax-free shopping.)

And so, we return to Ali Marcus, whom we profiled last year (and is now a favorite of the DC Metbloggers, too). She’s been doggedly pursuing me to get around to reviewing her new album, Miles and Miles and Miles, for weeks now. And I’m finally getting around to it, after weeks and weeks and weeks.

Last time out, it seemed like she was obsessed with Baezian situations in her lyrics; this time, it’s more Dar Williams-ian geography. (This last sentence will appear in the next edition of the OED under “Baezian.”) But it’s beyond the geographical litany of “The Most Autobiographical Song” that you find some real gems, like the apology-plea of “A Pearl Is Just A Pearl” or the love-distance-plea of “Miles and Miles.” Her songcraft is being refined, and she’s finding her voice — both her writer’s voice and her singing voice. “A Matter Of Time” might be the best Dar Williams song Dar Williams never wrote.

At times, though, she comes off as being, well, still working out what it means to be a songwriter. The first verse of “Riding My Bicycle” has a real clunker (”Sometimes I go up/And sometimes I go down”). But she’s maturing, still, so you can expect that she’s still washing the college open-mike night twee sound out of her system. The whole of the album, though, shows a lot of progression.

She has a ton of promise and a willingness to explore and deconstruct what it means to be a folk singer in these post-folk days. Buy in now; with time she will fulfill that promise, and you will be rewarded with oohs and aahs from your coffee klatch when you can say you knew Ali when. And honestly, it’s better we’re hanging onto her than Laura Veirs, anyway. Potential is better than Portland.

Upcoming Dates:
Thursday, April 12 - Conor Byrne, 8PM, $5
Saturday, April 21 - Tacoma - Java Jive, 9PM, $5
Thursday, May 3 - part of EMP All Access Nights, 5-8PM, free
Sunday, May 27th - Northwest Folklife Festival