Audio By Carbonatix
Lucinda Williams can get very personal on her recordings, for better
or for worse. Last year’s West was a melancholy collection about
the loss of her mother. The downtrodden disc was also buzzkill if you
weren’t in the mood for it. With Little Honey, Williams lightens
up, dishing about her reinvigorated love life while re-energizing that
laid-back drawl her fans have come to love. Little Honey opens
with “Real Love,” a spunky Southern-rock song that immediately declares
her intentions for the man she’s out on tour with (her producer, Tom
Overby). “Honey Bee” continues in the rock vein, with heavy
guitar solos pairing nicely with Williams’ gruff voice as she declares,
“All up in my hair / Honey bee I swear / We make quite a pair.” But the
most telling moment comes from the ambitiously long “Rarity,” nearly
nine minutes of slow-winding balladry. Soothing horns complement
Williams’ calming inflection as she dissects being with someone outside
the spotlight — a notion clearly foreign to this songwriting
star. Though they have nothing to do with her personal life, a romping
cover of AC/DC’s “Long Way to the Top” and the bluesy bar tune “Well
Well Well” are added doses of fun. Levity is a notion that has been
absent from Williams’ work for a long time now, and it makes a welcome
return here.
