" I sort of wanted to get back to that time when I played music for nothing."
我想这就是Rosie Thomas这张新专辑诞生的原因，远离正常的唱片生产流程，没有studio，没有producer，没有deadline，甚至乾脆跳过了厂牌发行这一块，直接把这张专辑放在网上贩售，这一次Rosie Thomas随性得很彻底。
这张专辑里的曲子是Rosie Thomas与她的好友Sufjan Steven和Dension Witmer共同在Sufjan位于纽约的公寓里录制的，开始时他们甚至没有打算做出一张专辑，只是几个同是音乐人的好友聚在一起写歌唱歌而已，好比古时文人相见总要吟诗作对，把酒言欢一般自然，他们所有的设备也只是几个在客厅、卧室、厨房里随意安置的麦克风而已。许多歌曲是Rosie Thomas一写出来后，其他两人立即配上其余的部分，在Rosie自己忘记之前录制下来的，没有雕琢的成分，即兴的味道颇浓，当然，不变的还是Rosie Thomas一贯的清新温暖的民谣风格.
不能说这张专辑有多特别或者好听，我只能说这张里的Rosie Thomas非常真诚，一如成名之前那般默默无闻地唱着让自己快乐的歌。也许对她的事业来说，这不会是一张重要的专辑，但也许仅仅是想到这个亲切而温暖的名字，These Friends of Mine，也能让听众和歌者互相会心一笑，我想这就是Rosie Thomas所希望的，毕竟她说" I just want to entertain people."?---Yes, I think you do. (以上转自”就是音乐“)
Rosie Thomas has a delicate, weird little voice and it's never really been the forefront of her music until now. The preteen Joni Mitchell/ choirgirl strains of her vocal tones are something to be played up, not down; thankfully she's finally realized that on her Nettwerk debut and fourth solo album. The album also includes studio patter tacked onto the beginning or ending of the songs, awesome little snippets of Rosie's famous comedic wit. Such material works in the album's favor, grounding the material by showing that Thomas is not some precious freak-folker. It also gives a glimpse of her live performances, where Rosie sometimes performs as a neurotic woman in a neck brace hopelessly in love with Leo DiCaprio named Sheila (really). The record's title likely refers to the batch of famous friends who act as accompanying musicians throughout. Thomas's core of musical compatriots in vaguely Christian dreamy emo folk-rock is here expanded from Pacific Northwesterners Damien Jurado, David Bazan, and Jeremy Enigk to include New Yorker Sufjan Stevens. Sufjan and Rosie duet beautifully and breathlessly on their cover of R.E.M.'s "The One I Love." This sparse and Beatle-length album (ten songs, just over half an hour) is her strongest by far. Huzzah!
