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Lucinda Williams is no stranger to hyperbole. In 1998 she released one of the defining albums of the burgeoning Americana scene: Car Wheels On A Gravel Road was a barnstorming fusion of rock and country influences cataloguing the classic themes of the country cannon: hardship, love, loss, and skipping town.
Since then, each new album has garnered effusive praise as she has carved out a prominent niche as one of the leading lights of modern country music alongside Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, and Allison Krauss. She was even dubbed the greatest living songwriter by Time magazine. So, for Little Honey, her ninth album, expectations are set to high.
The album gets off to a corking start. Real Love is a full on rock song, Williams' broad southern drawl extolling the joys of her new relationship: after years of upset, longing, and the end of a long-term relationship, which formed one of the key inspirations for previous outing West - Williams has found love and married - her husband co-produces this album.
One of Williams' major strengths has always been her ability to combine a variety of styles coherently on one album. But rather than juxtaposing rock with country, or folk with blues, she's here settled at a sort of middleground country rock: Circles and Xs at the gentler end of the scale, with Well Well Well at the feistier. But for all the changes in tempo, the album ends up a bit of a nondescript morass more notable for its bad moments than its good.
On Honey Bee, one of the sparkier tracks, Lucinda, whose voice is never the most-subtle of instruments, sounds like she is singing with a mouthful of roast armadillo, the overall effect is of a drunken and embarrassing mother doing an uninvited turn at a Texan family gathering. And best/worst of all is Little Rock Star, apparently inspired by a news report of Pete Doherty. "You pissed on your boots", with the cloying "why waste your talent" sentiment it would make an ideal charity fundraising single for Winehouse In Need.
While there are some good moments, such as the longing, lilting, gentle ballad If Wishes Were Horses and Jailhouse Tears, a duet with the man of the moment as far as country duets go, Elvis Costello. But the monotonous country rock makes it hard to single these out. The only absolute winner is It's a Long Way to the Top, a snarling rock song.
For all the tragedies that can happen to a country musician - and let's face it they are a group beset by misfortune - perhaps the worst thing for their creativity is happiness. Certainly the assured, loved-up feeling of Little Honey makes for uninspiring listening. Most of the album is unmemorable, and any memorable moments stick in the mind for all the wrong reasons.
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