The Resurrection Game

So memorable was Emma Swift’s 2020 collection *Blonde on the Tracks*—a knowing set of reworked Bob Dylan tunes—that it was easy to forget she hadn’t released a full album of original material. Until now, that is. *The Resurrection Game* is a lush yet melancholy outing inspired by the Sydney expat’s self-described nervous breakdown and the recovery process that followed. Recorded between a 16th-century abbey on the Isle of Wight and Nashville studio The Duck with a cast of her adopted city’s luminaries, the album leans into slow and sumptuous string arrangements as Swift imparts lessons from her mental health journey with a winking edge of melodrama. Despite the sugared softness of her voice, there’s often darkness lurking in her words. On “No Happy Endings,” she delivers the bleak titular assessment as if it’s the most positive news, while “Signing Off with Love” lists the ways in which her bathroom mirror hates her. Channeling Peggy Lee as much as Patsy Cline, Swift alternately croons like an old-world balladeer and a down-and-out country singer. Her voice is especially fragile against tiptoed backing as she finds unexpected rays of hope near the start of “Catholic Girls Are Easy”: “I’ve learned how to love/And I’ve learned not to care.” Those heartening vibes may not last, but Swift always finds the humor in life’s harder moments.