7/14/2023 0 Comments Pieta brown one and allBrown even shifts into Otis Redding territory on the moving "I Want It Back," a love letter to a lost boyfriend that comes off as both defiant and vulnerable. Like Williams, Brown's distinctive voice carries the day with its ability to turn even the most commonplace lyrics into poetry with her slurred, poignant delivery. But that sensibility adds ample soul and emotion to a style which ends up as folk/country/R&B, not far from Lucinda Williams territory. A blues undercurrent runs throughout, which is not to say it's a blues album. Glenn Worf's elastic standup basslines on the title track along with simple brushed drums is all it takes to move the tune into one of Brown's, and this album's, finest moments. But when Brown lays into a soulful version of Ray Charles' "What'd I Say" groove from "I'm Gone" with light drums and some lead fireworks, the eye-opening result shows that her music benefits from the slightly fuller approach. Brown and Ramsey take their time on these rootsy gems, crafting them for maximum impact, even if that means keeping only vocal, acoustic, and occasional electric guitar in the mix as they do a few times. While it was knocked out in three days, there is nothing rushed or hasty about the performances. That's not to imply there is anything slick about the final product which maintains a sparse feel, keeping the focus on Brown's caramel-coated vocals. This follow-up finds Brown with longtime foil/producer/guitarist/partner Bo Ramsey and the majority of Mark Knopfler's band (with whom she toured in 2010) adding subtle yet significant heft to the songs. That was a stripped down, Don Was- produced EP which captured a moment yet seemed somewhat unfinished. This album, recorded in three days with the musicians playing together in the studio (somewhat of a rare situation, even in roots music these days, with the advent of Pro-Tools), is a subtle but substantial step forward from Brown's 2009's Red House label debut. Hailed as a "self-styled poetess, folk goddess and country waif" by the BBC, over the course of the past decade-and-a-half, she’s released eight critically lauded records, prompting NPR to applaud her "moody, ethereal" songwriting, and the New York Times to praise her “sweet, smoky voice.” Her work garners praise and support from a wide array of peers and mentors, including legendary producer Don Was, filmmaker Wim Wenders, and Bon Iver mastermind Justin Vernon, who called Brown’s 2014 album Paradise Outlaw his “favorite recording made at our studio.Less can be more, but a little extra doesn't hurt either. Due out September 20 on Righteous Babe Records, Freeway is Brown’s most experimental collection to date, but it’s also her most confident and direct, an honest accounting of bittersweet endings and hopeful beginnings, of painful loss and traces of liberation in the aftermath, all captured here with a raw spontaneity and fierce self-assurance. Brown cut the album with an all-star band that included Carey, bassist Mike Lewis (Bon Iver), and guitarist Jeremy Yivisaker (Andrew Bird), and the resulting recordings reflect the foursome’s seemingly telepathic bond, a deeply organic chemistry fueled by a shared passion for emotional exploration and sonic discovery. Carey, Pieta Brown’s lush new album, Freeway, is a delicate yet forceful reckoning with change that’s marked by the push and pull of unabashed intimacy and a slow-burning intensity. Recorded at April Base studio and co-produced by Bon Iver drummer and acclaimed solo artist S.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |