There can't be many Asian-American female country singers in Texas. Bettysoo is one, although you wouldn't really know it from listening to this album. As a second generation Korean living in Austin she has obviously embraced the Americana roots as if they were her own.
The themes of the eleven songs are about finding a place in the world and a lover to believe in. Nothing very radical in this but they are delivered with plenty of integrity and warmth.
While she is not immune from a little sentimentality, a song like Just Another Lover shows that she is not afraid to confront darker truths of relationships. In this, she doubts the integrity of her lover and asks him questions for reassurance that she is more than "another piece of skin" or merely "a place to wet your tongue".
The other standout track is Never The Pretty Girl which takes us into Janis Ian At 17 territory. In this she faces up to the reality that while she has a tender heart, she is plain and reliable rather than a heartbreaker or a homecoming queen.
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Bettysoo has called upon multi-instrumentalist Gurf Morlix to produce the record and he also contributes guitars, growls and beats. His experience of working with artists like Lucinda Williams, Mary Gautier and Warron Zevon means that he is more than familiar with the type of songs she writes. As with those artists, her strength lies in directness and honesty.
The album , her third, was released in 2009 in the US and is available now in Europe thanks to a distribution deal with Proper and precedes a tour of Europe and the UK.
The sweetness of her voice means that even harder hitting songs lack bite but this is a solid and above average set of songs
Bettysoo's Website
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