Recorded over the course of three years, this debut album curates some of Faith Boblett's earliest songwriting. Hard work and some serious tears went into the process of the creation of Oil & Water. Just before completion, Faith's mother was diagnosed with cancer. Family comes first, always, so the album had to take a back seat to, well, life. Once life started to go back to normal and Faith's mom started doing better, the homestretch was within reach and the album was finished! Oil & Water means so much more than the ten songs that comprise it. Listen and you'll hear why. Letoile Magazine, Review by Jon Hunt: "First off — when I say Faith Boblett’s record Oil and Water reminds me of recent Taylor Swift, you realize that’s just about the highest compliment I can pay it, right? You guys know how much I love Tay-Tay. She’s one hell of a songwriter, and you can make fun of her all you want about her relationships or whatever (and you better do the same for her male counterparts, or I’m gonna call you out on your obvious sexism), but don’t you dare discount her immense talent. Taylor understands that you can combine country, i.e. “stuff with a little bit of a twang,” not traditional country by any means, and pop music, and not have it turn out like some unholy Sugarland monstrosity but rather more in the Ryan Adams wheelhouse, where killer pop melodies meet interesting country arrangements and equally-interesting lyrics about, you know, relationships and such, sure, but with some really great lines that make it all work. Oil and Water is like that, too. Faith is super-young — I wanna say she’s still got a “teen” after her age — but has a distinctive songwriting voice already, and one that understands how to aim stuff at the charts the right way, i.e. by writing great hooks and solid melodies. There’s at least one number-one hit on this record: “Conversation Piece,” which has a genuinely magnificent hook the size of the sky and a really interesting, slightly-funny lyric that totally works. You could throw that song on country radio or pop radio or alt-rock radio easily, and it would work in all contexts — it is by no means too slick to be indie, but it’s also just slick enough that you could imagine teenagers’ hearts breaking to it in dance floors all across Middle America. There’s a lot of songs that are almost as good, too — “Skin” and “Mr. Mystery” and the marvelous “Long Ride Home” all stack up nicely, with gorgeous melodies and nifty arrangements. Plus, she can sing, which puts her heads-and-shoulders above a lotta the young country/pop singers these days who rely on studio kindness to get by. There ain’t no digital tweakery here, just a cool, clear alto, minus the annoying over-throaty quirks or run-loving garbage that distinguishes so many (too many) other singers of her generation. And she’s mighty lucky to have, as her father, Paul Boblett, an excellent musician in his own right who has assembled around her an excellent band including the Honeydogs’ Noah Levy on drums and such other local notables as Greazy Meal’s Ken Chastain, Peter Anderson, Jake Hanson et al. The song’s arrangements are low-key and never really get in the way of the songs, and never so slick or overproduced that they sound, you know, forced, or like the product of some corporate shills. This is organic stuff, and just kind of genuinely good and accessible and catchy, but ultimately quite forward thinking — this is probably the future of country music, a hybrid of rock and pop and country that makes sense for the youngs. Maybe the grups might not get it, but I kind of hope they don’t, you know?" All music & lyrics by Faith Boblett Produced by Brent Sigment & Paul Boblett with Faith Boblett Recorded and mixed by Brent Sigment at Littlebig Studio in Cannon Falls, MN Remote recording at Flowers Studio, Pixel Farm, IAS, and Rumble Music (all in Minneapolis, MN) Mastered by Dave Gardner Physical Copies manufactured at Noiseland Industries in Minneapolis, MN