Four years ago, when West came out, a Lucinda Williams album was still an exciting thing. Somehow, in the time between then and now, the anticipation has been lost. This probably has a lot to do with her last album, Little Honey. It sounded like leftovers from the West sessions, and it didn’t have much to recommend by itself. The good news is that Lucinda is back, and back to being great. Blessed starts off with the first single, “Buttercup”, and it’s a doozy. The bluesy riff that opens things up is worth the price of admission alone, but the lyrics are great as well. “You will never cop to the damage you’ve done/ you will never stop because it’s too much fun” she sings. Then the chorus hits: “now you want somebody to be your buttercup/good luck finding your buttercup.” Lucinda Williams is back, and she has returned to tearing off the faces of the men who screwed with her. It’s a good thing.
A few songs later we have “Born to be Loved. It’s a nice little blues song. Lucinda sounds happy. If Blessed is anything, it’s her fat and happy record. It’s an album in the tradition of Van Morrison’s Tupelo Honey and Everclear’s Learning How To Smile Vol. 1, and quality-wise, it’s squarely in the middle of the two. There are more rockers (“Seeing Black”), more love songs (“Sweet Love”), and at least one great folk song (“Ugly Truth”). Lucinda mentions her age (57) in the song “Copenhagen”. It’s amazing to see a woman my mother’s age exuding this kind of fire. Blessed is as good an album as any she’s produced. Her multifaceted personality shines throughout, and I’m reminded constantly of the first time I heard the classic Car Wheels On A Gravel Road album. It’s spectacular that she’s still producing work of this caliber. My hero, Vic Chesnutt once sang “I settled down on a hurt as big as Robert Mitchum and listened to Lucinda Williams”. Her albums can be healing, exhilarating, and confounding all at the same time. Blessed is as good a place to start as any, but I’d recommend starting with Car Wheels On A Gravel Road, and working your way forward.
Track listing:
01 Buttercup
02 Don’t Know How You’re Livin’
03 Soldier’s Song
04 Blessed
05 Awakening
06 Ugly Truth
07 Copenhagen
08 Seeing Black
09 Born To Be Loved
10 Kiss Like Your Kiss
11 Convince Me
12 Sweet, Sweet Love
