Flitting from heart-on-sleeve lovelorn odes one moment to raucous, straw-chewing, sweat-dripping barn dances the next, Brisbane-based singer/songwriter Jackie Marshall has quite obviously been working hard honing her sound since the release of her hugely successful debut album, 2006’s Fight n’ Flight.

Sophmore LP Ladies Luck benefits from a warmer production and addition of her new backing band, the Black Alles Band. Contributing a wider sonic palette than the one on her debut, the band’s upbeat driving rhythms, mixture of banjo, acoustic guitar and the occasional string solo contrasts well against Marshall’s distinctive drawling voice, as each soaring melody and muscular instrumental blends with each other in a natural, effortless way.

Although her arrangements are indebted to traditional country music, in addition to 20th century Anglo folk-rock, Marshall is distinct in that most artists with such a firm grasp of the past often make that an overt point in their presentation. While many of these artists they often place the past on a pedestal through their style, tone or appearance, Marshall side-steps this pitfall showing her striking originality throughout this engaging full-length release.

Yes, her original songs have been influenced in many ways by what’s come before (then again, what isn’t...), they’re inventive, catchy, and kick-ass enough to stand on their own.

In the end, the one disappointment about Ladies Luck is that there’s not more of it.

Review Score: 8.5/10