Why You Runnin' [EP]

Lissie | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 10, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: EP
• Label: Fat Possum
• ASIN: B002Q4TKKE
• In-Print Editions: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,194 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Why You Runnin' is a five-song introduction to Lissie and pivots around her big, achingly raw and evocative voice. The songs range from the­­­ hand-clapping, foot-stomping spirited opener Little Lovin to the poignant country cover Wedding Bells to the haunting, soulful 60s pop-esque ballads Everywhere I Go and Here Before . These tracks were recorded at her current home in Ojai, CA, and at Echo Mountain Studio in Asheville, NC, with her friend Bill Reynolds (of Band of Horses, who also produced and plays bass on the songs alongside his bandmate Tyler Ramsey, who guests on guitar for some tracks). The hymn-like Oh Mississippi was recorded with Ed Harcourt last fall, when Lissie was far from home in London, England.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Arresting, intense folk-rock Americana, November 20, 2009

By 

hyperbolium (Earth, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Why You Runnin' (Audio CD)

Lissie Maurus is a folk-rock singer from the west Illinois border town of Rock Island. Although there's a rustic Midwestern edge to her Americana, her transplantation to Los Angeles, and national and international gigs have elevated her music beyond coffee-house strumming. Her voice pulls you in close with confessional introductions and then attacks with arresting outbursts of emotion. The exclamation of "danger will follow me now everywhere I go, angels will fall on me and take me to my home" finds her bending back from the microphone to make room for a lungful of emotion. The empty spaces in the studio add presence and dimension as she steps back to keep the needles from pinning red with her fervor.

There's a bluesy edge in her vocals, not unlike Joan Osborne, but with the earthier, more distracted air of Edie Brickell. The productions often arc from contemplative openings to emotional conclusions. "Little Lovin'" rolls through its first half with only a bass drum (and your toe-tapping) to keep the beat, but a deep bottom end rolls in, Lissie's vocals rise and hand-clapping rhythms spur the vocals to soar into full-throated scatting. The abandon with which she vocalizes has the improvisational verve of a live jam, blowing past the artifice of studio recording. Her cover of Hank Williams' "Wedding Bells" turns its despondency from hangdog to forlorn, and the original male-perspective lyrics ("you wanted me to see you change your name") gain additional layers when sung in a woman's voice.

An ode to Lissie's native river, "Oh Mississippi," is sung with a gospel piano and overdubbed choir, and though it may remind you of "Bridge Over Troubled Water," it turns into a fervent elegy for the failing industrial heart of America. Here too Lissie hits a second gear to bring the song to a tremendous emotional climax. Bill Reynolds' production is spare but filled with touches - a tambourine or a tom-tom riff - that provide instrumental accents that complement the vocal dynamics. He leaves Lissie up-front, where listeners can hang on to both her emphatic notes and dramatic pauses. A full LP recorded in Nashville with a pickup band and producer Jacquire King is apparently sitting in the can, but it's hard to imagine it captured Lissie in such disarmingly naked moments as this brilliant five-song EP. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A mix of Emmylou Harris and...?, February 1, 2010

By 

HJ (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Why You Runnin' (MP3 Download)

I stumbled upon this album in the cheap MP3 downloads, and I'm so glad I did. I knew nothing of her music before, but it's a bit country, a bit alternative. I felt like I heard traces of Emmylou Harris, maybe some Neko Case, not really sure. On this album, Lissie needs no comparison, but if people are looking for some alt-countryish music by a talented artist, this is definitely an album to own. My only complaint is that it doesn't have as many songs as an album should, but I didn't mind too much because it was a discounted price anyway. A great buy.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lissie is refreshing and amazing!, April 7, 2010

By 

Rebecca K. Long "Jackieluv33" (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Why You Runnin' (Audio CD)

Fantastic!!! Can't stop listening to it and i want more. She should be making more albums in no time as soon as she is done with her tour in the UK. And I for one cannot wait. It's fresh and raw!