Open Web Player
This mournful, erotic album is my favorite of Lucinda Willams work. I'm not usually a fan of female singers who play guitar, but this lady is a real musician, a poet and an emotional magician. She writes her own music and lyrics - plays on her heartstrings, sings from her soul. Her rough but vulnerable, husky, cowgirl voice tells you all you need to know about late nights in bars, too much booze, cigarettes, and a long time looking - and longing - for that one guy.
Her songs are deceptively simple. Their power comes from her images, her delivery and the way the music supports the lyrics. "Lonely Girls," the first cut, sets the stage for the rest. The brisk, light melody, juxtaposed against her sorrowful wail, pushes the sadness deeper. Backup for the predatory "I'm Gonna Steal Your Love," beats like an excited heart. She drags out the words, savoring every anticipated pleasure. The slow, rocking instrumental to "I Envy the Wind," and her voice, almost breaking with sorrow as she tenderly, and with exquisite sensuality, describes the way the elements are free to touch the one she longs for, is painful to hear. The words to "Blue" create the most delicate and beautiful images of the color blue - that particular deep, purple blue that suddenly surprises the eyes and the heart in an ordinary moment. But the lodestone at the center of this amazing album is the pulsing, and obsessive "Essence," with a beat that drives her passionate lyrics of carnal cravings to a boiling point.
In between these heated cuts are tender, sad songs of lost loves. The last cut, " Broken Butterflies," is a personal message to a lover whose anger destroys beauty and love. All this is the stuff of lonely girls.
The music ranges from the whining, bleeding sound of country and western, to jazzy blues. Especially delicious are: the sultry openings for "Are You Down," and the sexy, staccato guitar opening for "Can't Put the Rain Back in the Sky," with it's organ echo, and. punctuated drum beat with a brushed whisper.
The only cut that seems out of place is "Get Right With God." Perhaps a little penance is necessary after these hot, lustful numbers. It's the most upbeat number on the whole album. Maybe we needed it.
Similar items that may ship from close to you
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
Top reviews from other countries
Chris Osman
If you like Lucinda Williams, you will love this album
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 4, 2023
