Maybe it’s her degree in chemical engineering. Maybe that is what allows Teni Rane to take songs that start out sounding like traditional folk or country numbers and subtly transform them into something just a little bit different. Or perhaps it is her passion for yoga that suffuses so many of those songs with calm in the face of restless change.
As for the fact that Rane once played semi-professional soccer in Sweden … I have no idea how that figures into her growth as an artist.
Rane is about to release her second studio album, Never Turning Back. It should build on the success of Goldenrod, her 2024 debut, and further put her on the map as a vital new voice in alt folk or Americana. Call it what you will, Rane continues to prove that she can write deeply affecting personal songs with the best of them.
Teni Rane's second album travels far and wide to find inner truths
Never Turning Back opens with “Driveway Conversations.” A simple guitar pattern sparkles gently underneath Rane’s nostalgic remembrances of the way relationships begin with intimacy.
By the third verse, Never Turning Back’s not-so-secret weapon, Dave Eggar, turns up his expressive cello as the lyrics describe how those early carefree days seem to have vanished as life’s responsibilities march relentlessly forward.
Rane’s gift for poetry fits effortlessly with the simple string arrangements …
“Art is long and time is fleeting
I can’t hold either in my mind
They both leave me standing here
Wondering what we’ve left behind
And I’m clinging onto clouds
Instead of learning how to be the sky.”
From there, she takes the same elements – primarily her voice and Eggars’ cello – in an entirely different direction. A much more spry and bouncy traveling tune … “Places.” This time, looking back to all the “places we have been” does not signal the end of anything. It is merely a testament to the fact that our journeys are nowhere near finished.
She completes her opening trio with one more take on where she has been and where she is going. “Arkansas” is a loving shuffle about returning home. More guitar and one more flavor of cello, this time positively joyous.
In the space of three well-crafted songs, Rane has given us honest lament, boisterous independence, and joyous rebirth. And we still have nine more tracks to go.
A few tracks later, Rane dives deeper into the complexities of emotional entanglements in “Secondhand Memories,” a brooding exploration of trying to connect with a victim of trauma.
Then, as if to balance things out, “Leaving You Behind” is actually an upbeat tune about saying farewell. But not goodbye.
Rane can dip into country vibes on songs like “As I Walk Home” and “Missouri,” where she reminds me of a less twangy version of Brennen Leigh. She can also inhabit the intersection of traditional folk and more modern pop the way that artists like the Sierras – Ferrell and Hull – manage.
She may be at her best when she is not really recalling anyone, as on Never Turning Back’s final cut, the gospel-tinged “Heart in Tennessee,” which uses blues and folk to craft genuine Americana.
It will be fun to watch Teni Rane's career evolve. With strong guitar support from Phil Falconti and production help from Brent Bill, Rane's voice and Eggar's cello create an array of atmospheres. She may choose to expand that sound one day down the road. There's a pretty good chance that if she does, she is going to have a collection of excellent songs with which to experiment.
Never Turning Back drops on September 4.
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