Such are the times in 2013 that the winner of 1997's Best New Artist GRAMMY®, Paula Cole, opted to fan-finance Raven via a Kickstarter campaign that raised $75,000 for the project. Cole hired co-producer/drummer Ben Wittman, guitarist Kevin Barry, and bassist Tony Levin to fill out her piano and vocal arrangements. With logistics taken care of, Cole concentrated on getting these songs up to her standards. "Life Goes On" brings her career path into perspective by following the trials of a family with much more on the line. "Sorrow-on-the-Hudson," a tale of a failing marriage and a home built for two now serving one, is an intimate piano tune worthy of Joni Mitchell circa Blue to For the Roses. "Eloise" turns to the guitar for a railroad-grooving song that Cole wrote for Solomon Burke; she sings it in a lower-than-usual register to represent a man's point of view. "Secretary" rumbles with an urgency that's met with a stunning climax and catharsis. Though the album is smaller in scope in spots, when Cole needs to expand her vision, everything opens up to great effect.