- Country
- 2008
- Buy the CD
Reviewed by Lee Zimmerman
As a result, it’s almost expected that this latest attempt will be well received by fans and pundits alike. However, what was likely less of a given was how much of a change it would represent in terms of her usual M.O. In the past, Williams hasn’t always presented herself as the most agreeable individual, at least when it came to her tone and temperament. Despite her penchant for crafting durable melodies, she’s always seemed to grapple with issues that reflected a downcast perspective and dashed expectations. Now, after years spent venting frustration and furtive desire, Williams opts to pull back the reins, giving voice to her current and apparently more contented state of affairs.
Consequently, Little Honey finds an adjustment in her mindset, and a significant one at that. Opening track “Real Love” offers first hints; following its symbolic false start, Williams waxes enthusiastically about finally finding romantic satisfaction (“I found the love I’ve been looking for…”). Other songs aren’t so sonically effusive, but even the slow, low, bluesy rumble of “Tears of Joy,” “The Knowing” and “Heaven Blues,” and the downcast desire of “Wishes Were Horses” and “Rarity” ruminate with a soulful serenity she’s rarely evidenced before. So too, while the down-home romp “Well Well Well” and the tenacious Elvis Costello duet “Jailhouse Tears” maintain a brash country connection reminiscent of her earlier albums, Little Honey could be considered her sweetest effort yet.
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