Lucky duck: Singer Patty Larkin hits gold with Red

Red=Luck

Patty Larkin

Vanguard Records

A mix of folk…

Red=Luck

Patty Larkin

Vanguard Records

A mix of folk and pop, entwined with influences ranging from rock to R’B, Patty Larkin’s 10th album Red=Luck is a soothing record about lost innocence and the journey taken to find it again. The main theme running through this album is that of innocence, and the result is a calm, relaxing record.

Larkin’s skill on guitar shines on this album as every song is beautifully constructed and her lyrics are creative and vivid.

In “Children,” the first verse remembers a childhood of innocence lost. “I remember walking with holes in our shoes/ I remember we weren’t the kind to make an excuse/ I remember thinking we would break all the rules/ Where are those children now/ Where are those children now.”

The emotional track “Home” was the first song Larkin finished after Sept. 11, 2001. She recorded it then and placed that version on the album. In it she looks for a more innocent time, “Everything’s all right/ Look me in the eye and say that/ In the way that/ Love can make you whole again/ Home again.”

Larkin keeps the emotion flowing through the album as “Normal,” the second song finished after Sept. 11, 2001, is filled with mixed emotions of feelings lost in the time. “All my feelings/ Lost in words/ The world is reeling/ From bad to worse/ It could get worse.”

Red=Luck is a relaxing and soothing album perfect for a relaxing evening with a dimly lit room, but not an album that you can pop into the portable CD player and walk from class to class listening to. The album can only be appreciated to its full extent by listening to it intently and feeling the loss of innocence that comes through in Larkin’s voice and words.