Sam Phillips

Sam Philips' pop writing has always shown promise, but the mesmeric set that makes up Fan Dance is a blindsiding effort of coy wordplay and genteel restraint that presents her as a smarter, self-possessed analog to Aimee Mann. Sometimes vaudevillian ("Edge of the World"), sometimes sentimental ("Taking Pictures"), Philips displays a maturity as a writer that is flaunted over the dozen perfectly-formed tracks, accompanied by a rickety orchestra of guitar, percussion and string quartet. Picking standouts is difficult, but none are more satisfying than the elusive "Five Colors."

For her fifth album, Sam Phillips has pulled the plug. In collaboration with
husband/producer T Bone Burnett, Phillips spent the last decade crafting electro-pop
albums that took odd twists and turns until the song no longer remained the same. Fan
Dance, her first album in five years, gets plenty weird as well. Tom Waits' sideman Marc
Ribot continues his support of Phillips' elliptical word puzzles with acoustic guita... More >