When Catie Curtis hit the scene with her marvelous self-titled CD Catie Curtis and bolstered her reputation with strong sets like A Crash Course in Roses, she was a marvelous new voice on the folk scene. With her last CD Long Night Moon, she was still in top form as she focused on becoming an adoptive parent. This CD on the Compass label is another strong set with Catie's unique sense of melody and her vocals at times breathless and vulnerable, at times swooping and ecstatic. "Sweet Life" has a crack instrumental backing with Andrea Zonn who released her own solo set Love Goes On singing supporting vocals on seven tracks. Alison Prestwood who has worked with Bonnie Raitt also contributes with a lively bass.

The set focuses on the joys of domestic life. On her web site, Catie is quoted about the sunny focus of this set, "There are lots of reasons to be unhappy or anxious at this time, and I think the album is as much about resilience as anything. In order to stay sane & keep moving forward, you have to be able to look at all the bad news around you and still see the beauty that is there alongside the trouble."

The title track echoes overcoming adversity, "I had lots of big plans for tomorrow, most of them probably won't come true, And maybe it's a bitter pill to swallow, but it led me here to this sweet life beside you." "Are You Ready to Fly" charms with memories of good friends who part when summer ends, "On we go down crooked roads, alone to who knows where, Burning this moment like a sparkler in mid-air." "For Now" shines soft & slow with a gentle melody like an adult lullaby, "Let go of all your heart's holding, everything weighing you down; And lay here with me, let the world be for now." "Happy" is a ray of sunshine that reminds me of a different song with the same name that is the excellent title track on David Carn's excellent CD Happy. "Sing" puts a smile on your face with Catie's resolve to get through adversity, "To sing through all the danger, through all the thunder & the pouring rain, we sing to draw a circle around us, when trouble has found us, sing." Catie covers Death Cab for Cutie's "Soul Meets Body" and adopts the lovely melody so completely that one has to look closely to see it is the only song on the set she did not write, "I want to live where soul meets body & let the sun wrap its arms around me." When I first listened to this set, I thought it was a good Curtis album. However, with repeated listenings, depth is revealed. This is a GREAT Curtis set. Songs such as the vaudeville-like "Lovely," the beautiful melody on "Fools" and the parental confusion of "The Princess & the Mermaid" allow for no weak tracks. Catie concludes the set with the powerful song "Over" that regrets an ending, "Every end is a beginning & the thread lies underneath; A river born in the mountains starts over in the sea; And if we're only, only tiny grains of sand, then hold me, hold me, Don't let me slip through your hands." Catie Curtis is in fine form on this outstanding CD. Bravo!