Homemade Ship

Personnel: Rose Melberg (vocals, guitar); Larissa Loyva (piano, background vocals).
Recording information: Hive.
Rose Melberg's name on a record usually means two things: sweet as pie vocals and twee as pie songs. A long career of providing both with the Softies, Tiger Trap, Gaze and now under her own name has led fans to count on her and 2009's album HOMEMADE SHIP provides exactly what you would expect on both counts. Taking a step back from the slightly slick production of 2006's CAST AWAY THE CLOUDS (which featured drums and a more polished production style), the record is very intimate and relaxed. She gets a little help from P:ano's Larissa Loyva (backing vocals on Clay Bride and The Whistle Calling You, piano on "Sidewalk") but otherwise, the album is just Rose, her double-tracked harmonies and a guitar running through a batch of songs that sound both wintry and warm.