Steve Martin picked up his banjo again in 2009, recording his first-ever all-instrumental album with his
Steep Canyon Rangers, and then he wound up devoting the better part of the next half decade to the instrument he loved since a teenager. Never shy on-stage, he nevertheless wasn't a natural frontperson, so once he ran through two albums with
the Rangers, he joined forces with
Edie Brickell, an unexpected but natural fit. Bluegrass may not have been in
Brickell's vocabulary per se but she's an old versatile folkie comfortable with an array of Americana, something proven out by her new millennial group
the Gaddabouts. When
Brickell teamed with
Martin, they found a common folk-pop ground assisted by producer
Peter Asher on 2013's
Love Has Come for You, and its 2015 sequel
So Familiar is indeed a sequel: it offers more of the same, more of the tasteful dance numbers and romanticism heard on the first. This is hardly a bad thing.
Martin and
Brickell have an easy, natural chemistry, with
Edie helping to focus
Steve's nimble, graceful playing while the banjoist returns the favor by loosening up the singer, so she doesn't seem as precious as she sometimes did with the New Bohemians. While the duo sometimes sneaks a glance toward yesterday -- "Another Round" rambles forward like a square dance and "Way Back in the Day" makes its nostalgia plain -- this is unapologetically well-tailored contemporary music, drawing upon the traditions of Kentucky and Laurel Canyon to create something gentle, pretty, and substantive, something that is as enchanting as it was the first time around. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine