TRAiPSiNG THRU the AiSLES: add these to your basket
August 16, 2024
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust
I don't know that there's as long a run of consistently good records. Begun with 2009's Irene, and running a full six studio albums up to 2022's ambitious Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, the North Carolina songwriter and her band have never strayed far from the parameters they set for themselves as purveyors of quality americana. Their seventh studio project, The Ones That Stay simply heaps excellence upon excellence, behind one of the most special singers and writers in our kind of music. Not known to work with notable producers, this new set is helmed by fellow Ashevillians Scott McMicken (Dr Dog) and Greg Cartwright (Reigning Sound). Their hand is light but effective, emphasizing the warmth of live, in-studio recording and the magic of small touches in arrangements and atmospherics. "Window Pane" features Platt's terrific voice ringing above a bed of synth, with gently rolling percussion and chimes of pedal steel: I wrap this memory in barbed wire / So I won't pick it up again. The waltz-time "Saint Angela" adds drops of drums, landing like unexpected rain on a roof. But the band has always succeeded on the merits of Platt as a songwriter, interweaving homespun wisdom with moments of true poetry. On "Pocket Song" she sings, I came here to be teachable / So teach me. On the country-pop "Forget Me Not Blue", Platt observes, All the while I was losing you / The sky was the most infinitely / Forget me not blue. As a supporting band, Honeycutters are economical in their playing, to the point where it might be easy to overlook their essential work. "Big Year" offers soulful touches, while Matt Smith's pedal steel on "Empty Little Room" is expansive. Similarly, Amanda Anne Platt is a deceptively effective vocalist, turning her surprise cover of Lerner & Loewe's "On the Street Where You Live" into a swaying fireside moment. On a collection full of lessons and learning, The Ones That Stay can serve as guidance for other americana acts: We all start out such reasonable people.
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Anybody hoping to become more jaded about the music business is encouraged to watch Golden Days, a 2007 streaming documentary following the Damnwells' ordeal recording and releasing their Air Stereo LP. Fronted by Alex Dezen, the New York band has been praised for their power pop chops since their 2002 debut, dropping their last studio project in 2015 prior to Dezen's stint as a solo artist. The classic Damnwells quartet has reassembled for Bad At Beautiful, with contribution from Aaron Lee Tasjan and Morgan Wade. For years, Dezen and friends have made the kind of pop that's too pop for pop radio, guitar-based and hook-filled. "Pretty As Pittsburgh" wields an edge like late-period Replacements, while "Bad At Beautiful" is a satisfying acoustic strum with rich ringing undertones: Hand me a bouquet of flowers / And I'll keep them in a little vase / They'll be dead inside a week / From all the neglect I always seem to cause. For all the pop polish, Damnwells subscribe to the sort of romantic self-deprecation that often goes hand-in-glove with yearning lothario artists. On "Without a Heart", Dezen confesses that he's incapable of removing his heart from the equation, investing the song with an indelible chorus that would've sounded perfect alongside Wallflowers or Goo Goo Dolls on Mtv. A duet with Morgan Wade on "Easy Tiger" reminds us that Damnwells once overflowed into alt.country twang territory, while the bright piano chords and backing chorus make "What If I Talked" the best Ryan Adams track never performed by Ryan Adams. The future of the band remains undecided, but Bad At Beautiful speaks to the undeniable spark that can happen when the chemistry is right, an electricity that won't work without heart: No, I've never been to heaven / But I've been ten feet up off of Beale / Maybe you can sing along / Maybe that's the whole damn deal.
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In April of this year, Shelby Lynne issued a 25th anniversary edition of I Am Shelby Lynne, a record which originally served as a statement of artistic independence for a woman who had been taking mainstream Nashville by storm since her mid-teens. This was followed by a series of career-redefining records, including 2007's excellent tribute to Dusty Springfield, Just a Little Lovin'. With the reissue of I Am, Lynne promised brand new music before the year's end. That project, Consequences Of the Crown, recalls those early 2000s albums that wove her country roots through a rich soil of soul, gospel, and R&B. In a recent New York Times profile, Lynn called this, maybe the record everybody wanted after I made I Am. Created alongside a dream team of accomplished producer/engineer Gena Johnson, Little Big Town's Karen Fairchild, and fellow singer-songwriter Ashley Monroe, these sessions are fascinating, ranging from spoken word moments like "Dear God" to full country-soul numbers like "Over and Over". With themes of both breakup and recovery, songs like "Clouds" can be brutally confessional: I got sick on a boat / Cigarettes and regret / I got high on a plane / It felt like I was under the wing / I got stoned in the dark / Love's to blame. Built on piano and strings, "Regular Man" recognizes her father's everyday struggles, even in light of his eventual murder of Lynne's mother. Consequences doesn't tell stories as much as it makes impressions, with Lynne and her team often creating grooves as opposed to traditional songs. That said, the collection speaks to the songwriter's deep well of soul, and her remarkable power as a vocalist on "Shattered" and "Keep the Light On". Boasting co-writes with Angaleena Presley, Waylon Payne, and Carter Faith, the story of Shelby Lynne's 17th studio album is one of the strength in collaboration. Lynne will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Music Association next month: There ain't nothing wrong with right where we are.
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