2014 – Highway 20 Records
By Phillip Smith;
Jan 10, 2015
Among my favorite albums of 2014 is Lucinda
Williams’ Down Where the Spirit Meets
the Bone. This two-disc, twenty song
masterpiece is beautifully performed in her iconic country-laced style. This album lies in the same wheelhouse as Springsteen’s
1982 album Nebraska. The lyrics are so compelling; one can’t
help but be pulled into her dark and oft-times dismal world.
Williams chooses the slow and lovely, “Compassion”, to
gently greet and ease the listener in to the album. From a poem written by her father, acclaimed
poet Miller
Williams (April 8, 1930 – January 1, 2015), this song preaches indiscriminate
compassion for our fellow man no matter how ironic
it may seem. What a wonderful world it
would be if more people practiced this ideal.
Williams kicks in to gear with “Protection”, a high octane track about
overwhelming vulnerability. Bluesy
guitar riffs, guide this one to the finish.
The dark and haunting “West Memphis” quickly brings
to mind the Paradise Lost HBO
documentaries which brought the story of the West Memphis Three into the
spotlight. Walking the line between
country and blues, this song of injustice and prejudice is sure to kick any comfortable
feeling still lingering around, right to the ground into a puddle of
uneasiness.
Paying homage to the sounds of the Fifties and Sixties,
Williams cleverly delivers “Wrong Number”, a song about missed connections, with
a slow doo-wop beat. “Big Mess”, with
its cool walking bassline, joins along as well, with callbacks to that wonderful
era of music.
When “Stowaway in Your Heart” begins to play, I feel
as if the Sun has finally penetrated the dark clouds above and punctured a
little opening for its rays to beam through.
This poppy country song lightens things up with offerings of gratitude
and flashes of hope. It puts a smile on
my face for sure. My favorite track on
the album, however, is “Everything but the Truth”. Packed with swampy guitar licks, lush slide
guitar, and grit, it just doesn’t get much better than this.
Down
Where the Spirit Meets the Bone is so well-written, and
superbly performed, I’d say it’s definitely an instant classic.
