My Lucinda Williams Can Beat Up Your Shins
Lucinda Williams: West (Lost Highway, 2007)
Okay. For all you Shins fans who have been waiting three years for
their new album…well, boo-hoo, because I have been waiting patiently
for four years for West to drop, the new album by Lucinda Williams.
I blame my obscure Shins/Williams comparison on Amazon.com. I find
it very disturbing that the internet retail giant lists The Shins
on their “Customers who bought this item also bought” banner on the
Lucinda Williams page. Despite this odd pairing, let me inform you
that West is not only well worth the wait, but Lucinda Williams has
more talent in her pinky finger than all the Shins dudes combined,
which explains, for me at least, why West completely blows Wincing
The Night Away, the latest from The Shins, off the map.
So, let’s
take a moment to correct Amazon’s marketing ignorance. Unlike The
Shins, Williams doesn’t have the corporate machine blowing smoke up
your ass (via Natalie Portman) to convince you that her music will
change your life—Williams’s music won’t change your life; but, it
will make it more adventurous and satisfying. Her works ooze with
sympathy, honesty, beauty, and turmoil—they are a beautiful balance
between the heart and the mind of the human experience. Her
unique combination of blues, country, and folk create a sonic paradise
that never compromises the intention of her lyrics or the attention
of her listeners.
As a result, West is a genuine welcome amidst a lot of crap that has
come out in the four years since her last release, A World Without
Tear. For Williams, a woman with a lot of history, West reveals the
impact of her four year hiatus—she has endured the loss of her mother
and the bitter breakup of a relationship. West is her successful attempt
at writing a new chapter in her life, and, lucky for us, she agrees
to take us along for the ride.
Opening up this fantastic recording
is “Are You Alright?”—a definite reflective piece that succinctly
ties the psychological and emotional stresses that come with the loss
of life and love into one common theme. Both “Mama You Sweet”and “Fancy Funeral” are beautifully conditioned responses to the untimely
death of her mother. And, as we all know, breakups are bitter,
but what better to do with that bitterness than to turn it into a
song? This brings us to the unnerving and vindicating brashness
of “Come On.”
An obvious ode to her now defunct relationship,
Lucinda pulls out all the musical punches, only to knock us out with
a sinister lyrical attack. She playfully pauses between introspective
vocal inflections on the phrase, “you didn’t even make me” to offer
a bombastic vocal inflection on the phrase, “come on.” Besides Margo
Timmins and Fiona Apple, Lucinda is about the only other singer who
can pull off the word “fuck” in a song and truly make you feel like
she means it. The pure genius of “Rescue” is yet another dynamic exploration
of emotional depth, with its subdued and ethereal textures and pulses,
which are very reminiscent of Beth Orton. Title track “West,” an equally
powerful musical journey, closes the CD with its wistful and dreamy
orchestration.
The years have been good to Lucinda Williams’s musical
endeavors and, with every new album, she blazes a new trail and never
seems to let down her listeners. Throughout her career, Williams
has appeared comfortable close to the edge, always challenging and
successfully defeating the “little girl with a big guitar” stigma.
And, with the release of West, she has driven right over the edge
and has crashed into something that is as good as anything she's done
in the past. Even though it is early in the year, this album will
definitely make my top ten list and may even be number one.
