Album Review: Megan Washington - There There

9 September 2014 | 9:52 am | Ross Clelland

"As luminous as parts of this are, you still feel the best of Megan Washington is yet to come"

More Washington More Washington

On her sometimes gloriously candid Twitter stream, Megan Washington has pronounced her big love for classic ‘80s faux-epic, Vienna. But while There There occasionally has some of that era’s synth squelches, a better descriptor might be another Ultravox tune – Dancing With Tears In My Eyes. For instance: while Limitless comes with a jaunty insistence, it then hits you with the gut-punch line: “There’s a certain kind of lonely when you sleep in your jeans”. And that’s what hooks you.

There There is kind of Washington’s first album-proper. I Believe You Liar, and its darker afterthought, Insomnia, were more bursts of songs stitched together. This has her settling (mostly) in London, and well-challenged by producer/collaborator Sam Dixon, reflecting on what she’s maybe been running from – or towards. Some of the titles are self-explanatory: Who Are You, Get Happy, Begin Again. It’s not quite music as relationship therapy, but she articulates the experiences of many – and delivers them with her beautifully so-human voice.

It’s not as self-absorbed as it might be. Marry Me sees the weaknesses and reasons for the sides to realise it was never going to work – albeit in hindsight – while The Falling rightly informs a romantic misstep they’ve invested too much. Honest, sure – but it still cuts both ways. She appears to reveal so much, without the mawkishness that could happen with a lesser artist. And as luminous as parts of this are, you still feel the best of Megan Washington is yet to come.