Greater Manchester singer, songwriter and model/designer Karen Elson may be known as the former wife of US blues/rock devotee Jack White, but she has successfully managed to sidestep vanity-project accusations by forging a moderately successful (and highly singular) recording career.
Seven years have passed since her acclaimed debut album, The Ghost Who Walks, and this follow-up that furthers the theory that Elson is the Loretta Lynn version of PJ Harvey. Gone are the debut's allegorical murder ballads. In their place is a series of British-hued songs (Laura Marling makes a guest appearance) that reference her thorny break-up from White as well as a broader sense of true grit, loss and acceptance.
Double Roses is a deftly delivered and subtle triumph.
