featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
July 28, 2020
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust
Rumors, of course. Dylan's Blood On the Tracks. My own favorite, Richard & Linda Thompson's Shoot Out the Lights. Classic breakup albums, bubbling under with resentment, sparking animosity, assigning blame. It's all part and parcel of the catharsis that follows the dissolution of a relationship that has run its course.
While Courtney Marie Andrews exhibits a diverse range of emotions on her own breakup record, Old Flowers, it might be among the most decent collections of its type. At one point, the writer offers, I hope this world sees who I see in you. If you're looking for claws and blood and clouds of dust, you won't find it on Andrews' new collection. She writes by way of introduction: This album is about loving and caring for the person you know you can't be with. It's about being afraid to be vulnerable after you've been hurt. It's about a woman who is alone, but okay with that, if it means truth.
Old Flowers is the third higher profile release for Andrews, following on the heels of 2016's Honest Life and 2018's May Your Kindness Remain, both of which found a place on our yearly favorites lists. Issued by Fat Possum Records, it's by no means a big departure from the thoughtful country-folk that populated those earlier efforts, even as the artist opts for as stripped back and vulnerable a sound as we've heard from her.
Andrews has gathered an intimate cadre of collaborators for Old Flowers, including producer Andrew Sarlo, who has worked previously alongside Hand Habits, Bon Iver and Big Thief. Instrumentally, Twain's Matthew Davidson serves on guitars and keys, and Big Thief's James Krivchenia adds percussion. As a unit, they make interesting musical choices and take risks that draw listeners closer and emphasize the underlying indie aspects of Andrews' folk. A strummed acoustic lays the groundwork for "Break the Spell", but the song's magic is conjured by a subtle breeze of chimes, percussion and keyboard ambiance that might be overlooked without leaning into the sound.
One of Old Flowers' certain highlights is "If I Told", a glance back at the birth of a relationship on Venice Beach, under the palm trees. Once again, a standard strummed acoustic shares space with those treated, looped elements. Andrews' delivery is peerless, though never showy or indulgent. The lyric betrays a sense of self-uncertainty that threads across the record: I am a loner, I am stubborn / Can you handle this world I live in. Like many of the CD's ballads, "Together or Alone" trades guitar for piano, but leaves those lovely sonic treatments like a river beneath it all. The song straddles the beginning and the resolution of the relationship, from When we first met, your hair was in your eyes to the resigned What a goddamn mess, fate is such a joke.
Listeners who fell hard for Andrews' previous projects will still encounter a lot to enjoy on Old Flowers, tunes that skew in a more familiar direction. The title track reaches back to childhood recollections, minimalist pedal steel echoing across a cornflower blue sky like a lone cloud. There is a country-soulfulness to cuts like "Guilty", built of little more than drum, bass and piano. "It Must Be Someone Else's Fault" serves to tie up the collection's story arc, finding the narrator revisiting their ex- following an extended silence. I'm still sensitive and stubborn, Andrews sings, Still cry more than a person should / But it's this feeling inside that's changed / Like I've gone bad, but the world is good. She sings with somewhat of a yodel on the project's most traditional arrangement.
Fact is, every time I've listened to Courtney Marie Andrews' new album, I've reached for the headphones. Old Flowers is not a pristine listen, it's rough and grained like burlap. Even as Andrews' voice has been recognized as among the most beautiful instruments in our kind of music, it's the company she keeps on her new collection that lift Old Flowers beyond being just another pretty sad folk album. Listen closer. It's the whispers and the spaces between that will tell you that this is a masterful record.
- Juanita Stein, "Snapshot" Snapshot (Handwritten, Oct 2) D
- Flying Burrito Brothers, "Juanita" Gilded Palace of Sin (UMG, 69)
- Justin Wells, "No Time For a Broken Heart" United State (Singular, Aug 28)
- Ashley Ray, "Dirty Work" Pauline (Soundly, Aug 14)
- Charley Crockett, "Don't Cry" Welcome To Hard Times (Son of Davy, Jul 31)
- Colter Wall, "Cowpoke" Western Swing & Waltzes and Other Punchy Songs (La Honda, Aug 28)
- Margo Price, "That's How Rumors Get Started" That's How Rumors Get Started (Loma Vista, 20)
- Old 97s, "The Dropouts" Twelfth (ATO, Aug 21)
- Paul Thorn, "If You Can't Love Me Forever" Are You With Me (Perpetual Obscurity, 04)
- SG Goodman, "Supertramp" Old Time Feeling (Verve, 20)
- John Murry, "King of Kalifornia" John Murry is Dead EP (Submarine Cat, Sep 11)
- Lydia Loveless, "Love Is Not Enough" Daughter (Honey You're Gonna Be Late, Sep 25) D
- Delta Spirit, "It Ain't Easy" What Is There (New West, Sep 11)
- Deadly Snakes, "West Texas Sound" I'm Not Your Soldier Anymore (In the Red, 01)
- HC McEntire, "Final Bow" Eno Axis (Merge, Aug 21)
- Arlo McKinley, "Gone For Good" Die Midwestern (Oh Boy, Aug 14)
^ Courtney Marie Andrews, "Old Flowers" Old Flowers (Fat Possum, 20)
- Shovels & Rope, "Mississippi Nuthin' (acoustic)" By Blood (Deluxe Edition) (Dualtone, Aug 28)
- Jerry Joseph, "Sugar Smacks" Beautiful Madness (Soundly, Aug 21)
- Bill Callahan, "Protest Son" Gold Record (Drag City, Sep 4)
- Samantha Crain, "Little Bits" A Small Death (Ramseur, 20)
- Blank Range, "Circumstances" Vista Bent (Sturdy Girls, 16)
- Jayhawks, "Little Victories" XOXO (Sham, 20)
- Great Peacock, "All I Ever Do" Forever Worse Better (Soundly, Oct 9) D
- Bella White, "Hand of Your Raising" Just Like Leaving (Bella White, Sep 25) D
- Jon Snodrass, "Renaissance Man" Tace (A-F, Oct 9) D
- Texas Gentlemen, "Hard Road" Floor It!!! (New West, 20)
- Lori McKenna, "Stuck In High School" The Balladeer (CN, 20)
- Nude Party, "Shine Your Light" Midnight Manor (New West, Oct 2) D
- Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, "Help These Blues" Damage (Blues Explosion, 04)
Some quality additions to our Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster this week - our bold release calendar updated on an obsessive basis. In addition to serving as 1/3 of Bonny Light Horseman, Eric D Johnson is Fruit Bats. This week it was announced that Fruit Bats will be issuing an album-length cover of Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream CD (Merge, Aug 21). Nude Party will share the follow-up to their fine 2018 self-titled record on what's shaping up to be THE go-to release date for Fall music. Expect their Midnight Manor courtesy of New West. One-time Howling Bells frontperson, Juanita Stein's 2017 solo debut, America, was better than anticipated. We anticipate the followup, Snapshot, on October 2 (Handwritten). We've been active supporters of Great Peacock since their inception. Forever Worse Better arrives via Soundly on October 9. And one-time Colorado resident and Drag the River participant Jon Snodgrass has set an October 9 date for Tace. Yer ROUTES-cast has arrived:
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