I've been a fan of Shawn Colvin way back before A Few Small Repairs cemented her big ticket status on the Lillith Fair - ground. Unless I'm mistaken, Colvin made her first foray into the world of recording artistry with Steady On, a remarkable debut, both for its timeless songcraft and and for Colvin's mastery of the guitar. The title track is still one of the best songs ever written in the genre. Even so, Colvin's career remained in Neutral until the planets aligned and Shawn was poised to capitalize on the Female Folk Phase of the mid-to-latter Nineties. Alongside Natalie Merchant, Sheryl Crow, Sarah McLaughlin et .al Shawn had the hottest ticket to ride with what was arguably the best chick-folk record of the era A few Small Repairs. Alternatively spritely and melancholy and largely poppy and accessible, each track a miniature southern-fried opera that went well beyond Sunny coming home.

Between then and now the closest she came to equaling the quality of Repairs was 2001's A Whole New You which was a significant repair to form and an obvious attempt to be the kind of Shawn that we seem to want. Which made A Whole New You a wonderfully ironic album title if indeed it was intentional. I wonder if she didn't toy with the notion of including an addendum – A Whole New You, The Same Old Me? Which for the most part was a good thing, but somewhat creepy in that it really was something of a clone of Small Repairs. All of which makes These Four Walls all the more amazing. By dint of songwriting as tight, tuneful and wonderfully literate Colvin has finally shrugged off the onus of A Few Small Repairs. Not by changing her approach to songwriting, her instrumentation or production, rather simply throwing down a cycle of songs that equal or best the songs from Repairs. It took her ten years, or rather it took the world ten years to recover from the Lilith Fair backlash.

Personally I'm inclined toward the latter. By the time Lillith Fair finally fizzled out it would have been a bad time to be a female folk act. Not unlike being an up and coming Emo act right now - once a movement is played out, no amount of talent can buck the unrelenting tide of trend. I'm certainly not suggesting that we're on the cusp of another Lillith Fair, or a Lillith Good or Excellent for that matter, but by the same token there is no great force running in opposition. These Four Walls won't come close to the sales numbers that Repairs put up, but if you could take critical praise to the bank, Colvin could have it all again. Whatever the case 'you' can have it again. I recommend that much highly.