On the American singer-songwriter’s fifth album, Saint Cloud, luscious melodies are undercut by a lingering unease, sentimentality by steeliness.
She embraces the messiness of growing up and taking responsibility for one’s actions and composes the apex of everything she’s accomplished thus far. Saint Cloud offers us the best possible version of Crutchfield she could possibly give us.
Saint Cloud is the sound of Katie Crutchfield at her most conscious, comfortable and controlled.
Saint Cloud marks Crutchfield’s evolution from gifted songwriter into masterful storyteller, standing shoulder to guitar-slung shoulder beside Lucinda Williams and Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris and Dolly Parton. It is the sound of the rainbow that follows the storm.
‘Saint Cloud’ is the rousing of a regenerated spirit that chronicles not just the journey but the revelations of love, life and death that comes with it. A very special album indeed.
She’s as lucid as we’ve ever heard her, stripping down to her emotional core and daring us to make eye contact.
Saint Cloud, like Car Wheels, finds an artist operating at the top of her game, embracing, as Crutchfield put it, "the contradictions and the unknown" to produce a thrilling and inspirational work.
‘Saint Cloud’ is the refreshed, reformed and matured Waxahatchee – and it’s glorious.
Saint Cloud is a refreshing listen from an exceptional singer-songwriter that shatters the myth of hard-living artists and proves that great artists can make great art without a drink.
Saint Cloud offers guidance, accepting that not even something we idolise and long for in society is perfect, in most cases it is messy, complicated and difficult, whilst still hinting that it may all be worth it.
The tumult and churn of Out in the Storm must now feel worth it: this stunningly pretty ode to recovery is Crutchfield’s finest work, and possibly her masterpiece.
With a shift in tone and tempo, Katie Crutchfield creates a vivid modern classic of folk and Americana. It’s the sound of a cherished songwriter thawing out under the sun.
It’s her most consistently engaging album, with a rustic charm delivered by her sharp songwriting and choice of backup band, which consists of a strong cohort of experienced country-rockers.
‘Saint Cloud’ feels like the validation of a decade of supremely beautiful songwriting and is the work of someone newly at peace with themselves and assured in the quality of their beautifully exquisite songs.
Distinctly quieter than her previous work, the Americana-tinged reflections act as a huge step-change for Waxahatchee and the record is all the stronger for it.
Especially in these trying times, records like this one are crucial to remind us of the universality of the human experience: pain, love, loss, forgiveness, endings and – most importantly – beginnings.
It’s the sound of a woman at peace with herself, and Crutchfield’s newfound serenity makes for a wonderful listen.
Saint Cloud documents a journey towards self-acceptance; one woman’s reckoning with her past and its impact on the people she loves.
This utterly beautiful balm of a record feels less like a confessional, and more a vessel for warmth, serenity and worldly wisdom.
While her output as Waxahatchee has always been brave, this album possesses a new kind of strength.
With Saint Cloud, Katie Crutchfield (as Waxahatchee), has twisted a thick braid of an album, each song a bundle of strands interweaving with the next.
Even as Crutchfield pushes her voice in her most beguiling melodic hooks yet, her words explore ongoing restlessness. The sense of warmth and uplift is all in the music, rich with bright chords and hooks, pulling her forward even as she sings of feeling pulled back.
Adopting a free and easy Americana style marked by both twangy guitars and dreamy keys, the songs here are at once deeply intimate and broadly accessible, like selections from an alternative universe where modern mainstream country radio isn’t all pandering, homogenized slop.
On her latest album Saint Cloud, the 31-year-old songwriter trades in the indie-rock neurosis of her previous work for a mellower, twangy sound that nods towards her roots in Birmingham, Alabama. But her piercing observations have only grown sharper with time.
An elemental voice for our weary souls, Saint Cloud marks a moment of reckoning for Katie Crutchfield, aka Waxahatchee.
This album has a bloodied, ambitious heart on its sleeve. It wants the world to hear it beating.
Waxahatchee’s writing rewards close examination. For those not bothered to peer that closely, Saint Cloud is still a pleasing album of simple melodies and warm orchestration that’s perfect for driving to. A pick-up isn’t necessary but certainly optimal.
Saint Cloud is an underwhelming take on indie country.
A healing record for hard times. Every masterfully chosen word, hell, every lilting, breaking, drawling syllable that escapes from Katie's lips is pure poetry. When the pandemic is over and you get to hug your friends again, it's going to feel like listening to this record.
While it seems that she knew how to chase away the demons around her, Saint Cloud resembles her victory lap, both musically and personally. Waxahatchee's discography was already well worth the detour if you're a fervent fan of 90s music sprinkled with a layer and aesthetic of traditional American music, but in addition to having offered an effort of a much higher level Saint Cloud is her most poignant album, without the slightest hesitation.
If Saint Cloud is synonymous with renewal for Katie ... read more
I've become more and more interested in Americana, folk, and especially the female singer-songwriter over the last few years. The vast majority of times an album that incorporates many if not all of these elements is sure to be a pleasing affair from my perspective and a solid win.
This album by Katie Crutchfield, otherwise known as Waxahatchee, does well in the pleasantness factor but doesn't quite achieve the win from my perspective.
One issue that I find with the album is a relative lack ... read more
Although Katie Crutchfield's bright but dark indie-country easily evoked a fervent indie-criticism camp, I still favoured the outwardly rainy predecessor - but who am I kidding, all thunder clears up one day, and she earned the right to introspection with her fury. At first, hypnotised by the droning drums, her guitars seemed too subtle, and her meandering melodies never made me fall in love at first sight. But soon enough, her lyric-biting deliberate vocals sewed everything of light-coloured ... read more
𝗪𝗮𝘅𝗮𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗲 - 𝗦𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗖𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗱 (𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟬)
𝘍𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬 - 𝘊𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘋𝘰 𝘔𝘶𝘤𝘩
I’d say Saint Cloud is one of Waxahatchee’s definitive moments of her career so far. Katie Crutchfield is no stranger to some downright fantastic songwriting that makes any song she creates an instant classic, but there’s something special here on Saint Cloud ... read more
1 | Oxbow 2:53 | 84 |
2 | Can't Do Much 3:44 | 85 |
3 | Fire 3:37 | 88 |
4 | Lilacs 3:15 | 85 |
5 | The Eye 4:18 | 79 |
6 | Hell 2:59 | 80 |
7 | Witches 2:48 | 78 |
8 | War 3:10 | 79 |
9 | Arkadelphia 4:50 | 79 |
10 | Ruby Falls 3:51 | 80 |
11 | St. Cloud 4:41 | 83 |