Lucinda Williams Little Honey CD

WEST, from 2007, was one of Lucinda Williams' most personal and dark albums, a heartbroken meditation, mostly about the recent death of her mother. In years past, Williams likely would have retreated following such a major statement: in the first two decades of her career, spaces of nearly five years between albums weren't unheard of. Instead, the Louisiana-bred singer-songwriter knuckled down and recorded the exuberant LITTLE HONEY, perhaps her sunniest and most gleefully rocking album ever. Kicking off with the stomping, sexy single "Real Love," this is Williams in the rollicking "Passionate Kisses" side of her musical personality. Her lyrics are as sharp as ever, particularly on the wry ballad "If Wishes Were Horses" and the Elvis Costello duet, "Jailhouse Tears." Other guests include Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs, whose Buckingham-Nicks harmonies decorate several tunes, adding to the album's sunny and poppy vibe.

Arrangers: Eric Liljestrand; Bruce Fowler.

Personnel: Lucinda Williams (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Elvis Costello (vocals); Doug Pettibone (acoustic guitar, acoustic 12-string guitar, electric guitar, electric 6-string guitar, electric 12-string guitar, electric slide guitar, dobro, background vocals); Chet Lyster (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, steel guitar, musical saw); David Sutton (guitarron, cello, double bass, electric bass); Butch Norton (bullroarer, chang, drums, congas, cymbals, finger cymbals, maracas, rainsticks, tambourine, bell); Rob Burger (accordion, piano, Fender Rhodes piano, Hammond b-3 organ, pump organ, Wurlitzer organ, Mellotron, vibraphone); Albert Wing (tenor saxophone); Walt Fowler (trumpet, flugelhorn); Bruce Fowler (trombone); Jim Lauderdale, Kristin Mooney, Matthew Sweet, Susanna Hoffs, Susan Marshall, Gia Ciambotti, Charlie Louvin (background vocals).

Audio Mixer: Eric Liljestrand.

Rolling Stone (p.80) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "While it shows that the 55-year-old barbed-wire country singer is wary of rock's trappings, LITTLE HONEY proves she's still crushed out on the music."
Rolling Stone (p.91) - Ranked #18 in Rolling Stone's 50 Best Albums Of 2008 -- "[With] snarling Stones-ish guitars, brisk tempos and a slew of funny punch lines."
Spin (p.90) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Williams goes back to the roots-rock well and takes a long, satisfying swig....What unites the songs is the restored hope in Williams' singing..."
Spin (p.47) - Ranked #30 in Spin's "40 Best Albums Of 2008" -- "After 30 years of weepers and heartbreakers, Williams proves she can also sing he-done-me-right songs."
Entertainment Weekly (p.98) - "She sounds happier than she has in years, singing mostly about domestic contentment with an audible grin."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.104) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "Country and rock meet the blues and Williams certainly seems to enjoy creating a kind of aural miniguide to all that is Americana."
Paste (magazine) (p.50) - "Not since her masterpiece 1998's CAR WHEELS ON A GRAVEL ROAD, has Williams dug so deep and come up with an album that brims with such varied, impeccable writing."
Record Collector (magazine) (p.98) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "The electric guitars are cranked up for the opening 'Real Love' and the garage fuzz of 'Honey Bee,' and there's a seedy country crawl to the Elvis Costello duet 'Jailhouse Tears'..."