Sehnlichst erwartet und herzlichst willkommen geheißen: Fünf
Jahre hat uns die Wunder-Stimme des edlen Country nach neuem Material
hungern lassen, fünf Jahre, die wir uns an Easy und seinen Vorgängern
ergötzen konnten. Zum Fescht 2006 schenkte sie uns gemeinsam mit
ihrem Gatten Bruce Robison den Appetithappen Happy Holidays, aber satt
- satt wurden wir davon nicht. Aber die Jahre des Darbens sind vorüber:
Mit Translated From Love schenkt uns die Grand Dame des Edel-Honky Tonk
den 12-Song-Schatz, nach dem wir hungerten. Hier stimmt einfach alles:
Die Auswahl der Songs, die abwechslungsreichen Arrangements, das perfekte
instrumentale Handwerk, die Produktion (Chuck Prophet). Kelly gelingt
es, in einem Dutzend Liedern einen Großteil der amerikanischen Musikgeschichte
Revue passieren zu lassen, sie glänzt in Bluegrass und Honky Tonk,
50’s Rock’nRoll und 60’s Breitwand, Folk und Country-Swing,
Beach Boys-Wohlklang-Pop und satt rollendem Roots-Rock. Mit musikalischen
Gästen wie Prophet, Bruce Robison oder Jules Shear stehen die Saiteninstrumente
klar im Vordergrund der Produktion, die Gitarren glänzen in allen
Farben, es twangt und rockt, wehmütig singt die Steel-Guitar, wurzelig
knarzt das Banjo und herzhaft perlt die Mandoline. Bass und Schlagwerk
liefern die perfekte Basis für jede Gangart, Orgel, Klavier, Keyboards
und Streicher füllen das köstliche Klangbild. Edel, meisterlich
und gut, aber: Einzigartig wird das Werk erst durch diese Stimme, die
wie kaum jemand sonst Songs mit Leben erfüllt, die Traditions-Treue,
perfekte Sangeskunst und unwiderstehlichen Liebreiz mühelos in sich
vereinigt.
(Glitterhouse)
|
Translated from Love is Kelly Willis' seventh album and her first (aside
from a Christmas set in 2006) in five years. It was produced by Chuck
Prophet with a small group of musicians that rotates a bit but is more
or less a unit: Prophet, Greg Leisz, Marc Pisapia, John Ludwick, and Michael
Ramos. Guests include Willis' husband Bruce Robison, the Tosca String
Quartet, and Jules Shear (who wrote or co-wrote a couple of tunes here).
Prophet, Willis and Shear take on the lion's share of writing credits
here, often in combinations. Willis is the darling of alt country fans
and NPR listeners, and each recording has received more platitudes than
the one before. It will be interesting to see what they make of Translated.
This is, in many ways, as slick as her MCA records, though it is punchier,
rocks a little harder, and feels like it was geared for more open-minded
country radio stations. The music is full of keyboards featured as prominently
as guitars, tight arrangements, clipped harmonies, and bona fide rock
riffs in places; what's more, the tracks accent the jumpier side of Willis'
voice. Think Carlene Carter's 1980 album Musical Shapes (produced by Nick
Lowe) (and yeah, it is a good thing).
Alt country, Americana or, as some are now calling it, "Ameripolitan"
has become a ghetto of generic artists, sounds, and utterly forgettable
songs that rely more on lyrical imagery than on their crafted melodies
to get them across. Willis, who has played this game her way since leaving
MCA in the '90s, knows what she's doing. Prophet's a perfect producer
for getting what an artist wants out of a tune. "Nobody Wants to
Go to the Moon Anymore" opens the set with its jaunty, popping 21st
century rockabilly. It's got a shuffling, crisp blend of acoustic and
electric guitars, and solid snare pop driving the thing. "Don't Know
Why," with its Wurlitzer and B-3, carries a kind of '80s roots country
feel: it's got a solid, hooky melody in a beautiful mid-tempo pop-love
song written by Willis, Prophet and Shear. If there is any questions about
the early rock & roll influence on this disc, go no further than "Teddy
Boys," with its modified Chuck Berry lick. It's modified by Ramos
playing a big fat Moog as part of the melody line. There are those young
and middle-aged men (many of them critics who are projecting their own
fantasies) who will write all these songs off as sell-outs, as "merely"
recordings by female artists, unless their titles are drenched in a slavish
vulnerability they perceive as "honesty." Willis offers a twist
on these themes in "Losing You," with its banjo lines featured
prominently, the tempo in the middle, and her expressive Virginia drawl
drenched in strings and pedal steel.
"Too Much to Lose" puts Robison's vocals in the mix, and is
also laden with strings. It's a slow, simple tune, but Willis sings with
great authority. The longing in her voice and in her lyrics never sacrificess
her dignity. The '60s rock harmonies that introduce "The More That
I'm Around You" are offset by the cheesy synth lines. This is one
of Shear's great pop songs and Willis does it justice, as does Leisz's
Rickencbacker 12-string. The great cover of David Bowie's "Success"
is simply a riot. It's all loose and ranging, driven by Ramos playing
a Vox Continental organ and shouted backing vocals by the Gourds. There's
a stolid country ballad in "Stone's Throw Away," a gorgeous
song that plays more to Willis' recognizable past (so it may be big with
the males mentioned above). The big fat rock & roll guitars in "I
Must Be Lucky" accented by dobro and organ, make it one of the best
cuts on the set, before the album's taken out by the minimally dressed
acoustic title track with the sweet tinges of Shear's backing vocal and
Ramos' accordion. In all, it's a winner, a solid, consistently crafted
"new country" record that wears rock & roll proudly on its
sleeve. And don't be surprised if the contemporary country stations or
CMT and GAC pick up on it.
(by Thom Jurek , All
Music Guide)
|