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Although I am a huge fan and have been since the late 80s, I am still scratching my head re: Little Honey and the trend over the past few years. I am not a cheerleader nor do I think that is the role of a dialed-in ear. Not every show, every album can be head-turners. Although super-prolific, MPLS’ finest little purple fellow is a steel example of this. Why is it not OK to voice question marks in terms of LH? Why was the webcast so poorly attended (many thanks to everyone for that idea–it might catch on–hopefully so). How about record sales? Anyway, this is what the Globe reflects in its article entitled “Honey–too sweet for its own good”, which I think is spot on especially as it relates to historical perspectives and lyrics. As a huge EC fan, some of us are not especially thrilled with his latest direction as well. Quiet protests, indeed!:
“Little Honey” is the first album that makes you wonder whether less Lucinda might be better Lucinda. After releasing only five records over the first two decades of her career, Williams picked up the pace with her 1998 breakthrough, “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road.” She’s since issued roughly the same number of studio albums in half the time, and on “Little Honey,” which is released next Tuesday, the results sound rushed. Coming after last year’s “West,” a saturnine work informed by the death of her mother and the end of a relationship, “Little Honey” finds Williams rebounding from those losses. She brims with “Tears of Joy” and declares her discovery of “Real Love” – trite titles indicative of songs whose lyrics are as uninspired. “You squeeze my peaches,” Williams sings in an over-mannered drawl that stretches both her sex metaphors and our patience. On “Honey Bee,” she actually says, “Now I got your honey all over my tummy.” Just as overripe is her duet with an equally over-mannered Elvis Costello on “Jailhouse Tears.” And could she really think of no better way to describe a downpour than “it’s raining cats and dogs” on “Circles and X’s”? For an artist whose reputation for painstaking perfectionism and poetic acumen is legendary, “Little Honey” is too much saccharine and not enough substance. [Jonathan Perry]
Hmmm I agree in some ways and disagree on other points.
For starters I maintain that Little Honey is a vast improvement over West. An album I still struggle with and generally only like a couple songs and only truly love one (Everything Has Changed). I do agree that LH is an odd album in many ways. After multiple listens it becomes quite easy to realize what era a lot of these songs were written in and in some cases you can see why they didn’t make it to the albums they were written for. Unfortunately the songs that scream WEST are the ones I find myself the least interested in and the ones that have been confirmed as oldies I’ve loved since before I knew that about them (Circles and X’s and Horses).
On the issue of the lyrics I can see why someone might be critical of some of the choices but in an instance like Circle’s And X’s or Well Well Well, two songs that seem more about presenting a classic Country/Americana vibe than a poetic expression it makes sense to incorporate cliche’s like “raining cats and dogs”. It reminds me of something like “When I get back this room better be picked-up”. It’s more about the scenery and culture of the moment.
Whereas lines like “You squeeze my peaches” and “Now I got your honey all over my tummy” are cute and pretty daring for a 55 year old woman. These songs are light and fun and joyful. The lyrics leave a bit to be desired but I think they fit the mood of the songs. They come off pretty natural for being somewhat blushworthy.
Now an “over-mannered Elvis Costello” is about the most perfect way to desrcibe his presence on the record. Not a fan of that track.
Is it Car Wheels? No, of course not. It’s not even S/T or World Without Tears in my opinion but it’s still a very strong record that creates a pleasant atmosphere and despite containing songs from a 25 year period sounds very cohesive. It could be improved and I can understand the frustration of some reviewers who are used to a certain level of quality from Lucinda.
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