rose ave.

What started as a casual jam session between two friends became one of the year's more eclectic collaborations: hardcore singer turned emo troubadour Dallas Green (of City and Colour) and pop firebrand Alecia Moore (a.k.a. Pink!) team up for a set of understated folk ballads. Green's plaintive vocals over a plucked acoustic guitar will be recognizable to fans, but Moore's performance sounds nothing like her Pink! material. These songs sizzle and glow like a campfire, the singers sharing the spotlight like two old pals. A string quartet shows up on the emphatic "Break the Cycle," and a slide guitar adds nuance to "You and Me," but most of these tunes are two voices and a few chords.