As the holiday season moves into the past, it's becoming the time to announce a large crop of new albums for late-winter and early-spring. Among the new LPs springing up is Blessed from three-time Grammy winner Lucinda Williams, out on March 1 from Lost Highway Records.
Considered by many to be one of America’s greatest living songwriters, Williams lives up to that and more by delivering 12 new songs that cover an even wider emotional spectrum than her previous work, without moving too far in any one direction.
Blessed opens with the gritty kiss-off Buttercup and moves seamlessly into the sultry blues of Born To Be Loved. Williams delves into a heavier subject as she questions the motives for a suicide on the hard-driving Seeing Black, which features blistering guitar from Elvis Costello. The thoughtful title track slowly builds to a melodic climax as it gives an eye-opening look at what’s right in front of us, but too often unnoticed. On the gorgeous Kiss Like Your Kiss, Williams lays down one of the most beautiful and fragile vocals she has ever recorded, while the poignant and powerful Soldier’s Song simultaneously tells a tragic story of the soldier overseas and his wife and child back home.
It’s nothing new to see Williams tug at the heartstrings and stimulate the mind in her songs, but there is a vibe throughout Blessed that is unique to this album in particular. It’s the sound of the wisdom and experience Williams has gained through her years as an uncompromising talent. Combine that with Grammy Award-winning producer Don Was at the helm, and something special is born. Was co-produced Blessed with Eric Liljestrand and Tom Overby, who co-produced Williams highly-praised Little Honey (2008). Blessed features special guests Rami Jaffe on keyboards, Matthew Sweet on vocals Greg Leisz and Elvis Costello on guitar.
The deluxe edition of Blessed will include a bonus disc (or 14 tracks digitally) titled The Kitchen Tapes. These are the demos Lucinda recorded of the songs that became Blessed right as they were born at her kitchen table, where she does much of her writing.
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