Sera Cahoone

The eight years that shaped I’ve Missed You All These Years were marked by profound change: Sera Cahoone lost her best friend, her father, and her dog all within a short time period. But this record is emphatically not about the darkness; it’s about what happens after the storm clears, the moment when you begin to come back into your body after a dark winter. This sense of lightness is evident on the piano and electric guitar that rev to life on “Say Something” and the intricate portrait of “Hits Right.” I’ve Missed You All These Years captures the sound of ecstatic collaboration between exceptionally talented friends. You can hear it in the barroom swing of “Pulling Up Roots,” the sigh of a pedal steel on “Not How I Had Hoped,” the breezy falsetto on “Say Something.” It’s a record about finding comfort in community; about rediscovering yourself by connecting with the people you love. On her sixth record, Cahoone is in full command of her powers. In its ability to hold loss and connection in the same hand, I’ve Missed You All These Years is triumphant, a celebration of life rooted in the knowledge of its fleeting nature. The product of a lifetime spent performing and producing music, the album traverses blues, folk, pop, and country, evoking Loretta Lynn in one song and Lucinda Williams in the next. It’s a testament to the strength that creativity and community brings, a portrait of an artist who knows herself completely.