Madison Galloway has a sound she loves and knows inside out, which can be half the battle for a young artist making their way.

Galloway’s resonant vocals and stinging guitar work place her electric blues-rock firmly in the Bonnie Raitt-Susan Tedeschi camp, but there’s an added edge here on tunes like “The River” and lead single “Open Your Eyes,” whose bridge/breakdown sections dip briefly into the sort of airy psychedelic flourishes that confirm her love for Led Zeppelin.

The veritable small-town-girl—in this case, Fergus, Ontario—Galloway released an EP at 15 and her debut album at 19 (Moon & Mercury, 2019). This self-titled release, her second full-length, features familiar ingredients for her chosen genre: heavy rhythm section (Stacey Shopsowitz / bass and Jeremy Kleynhans / drums), resonant organ (Nik Hirst), and muscular, keening guitar (herself and Ben Healey), topped off by Galloway’s soulful vocals, which are clear and emphatic, with a welcome growl creeping in at times.

Madison Galloway features 10 originals plus an exuberant cover of the Jefferson Airplane nugget “White Rabbit.” The originals are consistently solid, exploring everything from infatuation (“Whiplash” and “Love Like Yours”) to connecting with nature (“The River” and “Tides”), but the most exciting moments arrive when Galloway and band just plain cut loose on a rousing stomper like “Shade In The Shadows.” The adrenalin rush of “Shade” and the potent craft of “Open Your Eyes” are the highlights here.

On an album full of accomplished musicianship and powerful vocals, it’s Galloway’s lyrics—where she’s assisted by several co-writers—that feel like a work still in progress. There are a lot of familiar phrases and ideas, and “Devil At My Door” in particular feels derivative of half a dozen “blues legend / origin story” numbers you’ve heard before (there’s even a direct nod to “Crossroads” in the final verse).

That said, Galloway possesses a powerhouse voice, sharp guitar skills, and the kind of innate charisma that can’t be taught. Her 2023 win for “Southern Rock Artist of the Year” at Nashville’s Josie Music Awards, along with this impressive album, suggest that the ceiling for Madison Galloway’s talent is somewhere up in the clouds.

Rating: B-

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