Lucinda Williams has always been adept at painting landscapes of the soul, illuminating the spirit's shadowy nooks and shimmering crannies -- but she's never captured the sun breaking through the clouds as purely as on her new Lost Highway release, Little Honey
The album features a duet with Elvis Costello "Jailhouse Tears" Other guest vocalists include Matthew Sweet, Susanna Hoffs, Jim Lauderdale, Tim Easton and Charlie Louvin.
The first single "Real Love" is available for download in the Amazon MP3 store.
Lucinda Williams does anguish so well it's easy to forget that Happy Woman Blues is not just the title of her 1980 album, but also the way she thinks of herself. That identity comes across full force in Little Honey, the follow-up to 2007's heavily brooding West, where her melancholy voice seemed to creak with sadness. Here, a full-throated Williams revels in the rejuvenation of her engagement to her manager/co-producer Tom Overby, over whom she's positively giddy on "Real Love." Her newfound bliss opens the floodgates to a musical revival, as well, since Little Honey, her ninth studio album, ranks as one of her most diverse, ranging from pounding rock 'n' roll (the raw sex of the title track) to the Hank Williams-ish country blues of "Well, Well, Well," to "Knowing"'s '60s soul. But some of the finest writing appears on "Plan to Marry," as thoughtful a meditation on love as any time-honored sonnet. Just when Williams seems to have run the gamut, she pulls out a Stones-y (via Louisiana) cover of AC/DC's "It's a Long Way to the Top" as the punctuation mark. It all makes for a rollicking ride with one of roots-rock's most unpredictable and passionate artists. -- Alanna Nash
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0
Fantastic!:
Blues, country, rock n' roll, she does it all, and way beyond well. Lucinda is the most honest songwriter going...
My new favorite CD!:
It seems it's very rare these days to hear a CD that you like every song but this is one such rarity! My favorite song is If Wishes Were Horses but every song is really great. The sequence of songs, the writing the production...all reall really kicking! Elvis Costello makes a great guest appearance as a drunk and a stoner in Jailhouse Tears...not since Allison Krauss and Robert Plant's "Raising Sand" have I enjoyed a CD so thoreoughly from start to finish. Great work!
A rough n tumble batch of barroom stompers and ballads - love it:
For now, gone are the days of Lucinda's acoustic, folk/country music. Here, soak in a bluesy, rootsy bar-band taking over the local saloon, tunes altering between roadhouse stomps with telecasters blaring, and smokey, hushed ballads, guitars drenched in reverb. Williams almost breathes her words, lazily, almost drunkenly carefree, drawling and infectious. The duet with Elvis Costello on "Jailhouse Tears" is a riot. So much great music she has made.... GENRES: Rock, Alt Country, Mellow Rock. BUY IF YOU... more info
little anything:
Knowing how good she can be it was disappointing to listen to this album. Maybe 3 or 4 tracks that were not great but listenable, but most songs sounded like she was forcing yourself, not a glimpse of creativity, just shallowness. The first track "Real Love" in a way defines the kind of the album Little Honey is. Ok for a dance hall, but not something to listen to and enjoy.
