Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
By Kirsty Akers, Social family Records 2018.
Kirsty Akers has been performing in public from the age of three and she recorded her first EP as a 16-year-old.
She busked on the streets of Tamworth for years while studying and graduating from the CMAA Academy of Country Music in 2004 & 2005 and the Talent Development Project in 2006.
Her big break came in 2006 when she won the Telstra Road to Discovery.
She followed that up by winning the Toyota Star Maker Award in 2007 and then topped the lot by winning a Golden Guitar in 2008.
Kirsty is the only artist to have completed this feat within a two-year period.
For her new album she’s taken on the role of producer as well as songwriter and performer.
The album was once again recorded in Nashville and the title track and lead single were written in collaboration with Phil Barton and Bruce Wallace.
It features that modern American country sound which is a blend of her Australian country (Tamworth) roots, mixed with American country rock, and liberal lashings of pop hooks.
It’s a very polished piece of work with songs ranging from the solid pop/rock of Heart of Stone to the melodic ballad It was Always You to the soft east coast American rock of The First Time.
Kirsty has a voice that is eminently suited to country music and she moves easily between the varying styles on the album.
This album should achieve similar success to her 2016 #1 ARIA album Burn Baby Burn and the earlier and equally successful 2011 release Naked.
Under My Skin is due for release on Friday 27 July and will be launched at the Groundwater Country Music Festival on the Gold Coast.
