STRANGEST PLACES
NO FEAR AND EVERYTHING CHANGED
ABRA MOORE THAN LIVES UP TO HER NAME
SING
THE LIGHT THAT MAKES HER SING
Since creation of her last album EVERYTHING CHANGED, “everything” has changed for Abra. She got married (sorry guys) and has often sung jazz standards at upper end jazz clubs in her Austin, Texas hometown. The latter should not surprise anyone who has followed her direction since jazz is her musical “first love.” As with Linda Ronstadt, I am impressed with their versatility—seamlessly flowing from jazz to pop and rock. The question now is: will Abra’s fans like this “new direction” on several of her new songs? The first time a trumpet was used on her albums was the delightful pop/jazz fusion NO FEAR (NO FEAR, EVERYTHING CHANGED) “Stay awhile won’t you? Stay here in front of me. Take your chances on what could be….Feel no fear.”
Mitch Watkins, her long time producer, lead guitarist, and keyboardist is thankfully back doing all of the aforementioned. What I don’t understand is why he does not do any of his usual, great back-up vocals though these are left to a more than capable Will Sexton.
When I met Abra after a concert in 2002, I told her I’d never listened to anyone as much as I’d listened to her. That is still true only more so. Rarely a day goes by without being uplifted by some of her classics: FOUR LEAF CLOVER, SAY IT LIKE THAT, SWEET CHARIOT, THROW A PENNY, BIG SKY, SHINING STAR, TAKING CHANCES, NO FEAR, I DO, DREAM TIME, STRANGEST PLACES, KEEPS MY BODY WARM, SING, PAINT ON YOUR WINGS, DON’T FEEL LIKE CRYING, TRIP ON LOVE, PULL AWAY, IN LIGHT OF IT ALL, YOUR FAITHFUL FRIEND, I LOOK AROUND, HALF STEP AND A TUMBLE.
AFTER ALL THESE YEARS, now playing from ON THE WAY, sums up why: Ever fresh melodies blending perfectly with poetic, candid lyrics. You can picture Abra sitting alone in a darkened room, warmly recalling her old flame in AFTER ALL THESE YEARS: .
“I’ve got my foot on the parking brake
Waiting for that song on the radio to play out.
Alive as an ember burning inside
Just when you think it’s ended
It comes on bright
Alone in the dark
I whisper your name
It’s calling me again
But I am with you now
We are dancing in the moonlight
You got me spinning around
I can feel everything”
Lyrically reminiscent of TOUCH AND GO (SING) "I pull you out every once in awhile, Just to look at you and remember how we used to be" with a moderate pacing and absorbing sing-along, nostalgic feel of TAKING CHANCES "I'm walking backwards into the future, This world is getting too deep" (NO FEAR, EVERYTHING CHANGED), AFTER ALL THESE YEARS is another good enough to Grammy Abra classic—which sadly, will probably be overlooked by mainstream radio.
Abra has done concerts in churches (See the free DVD with EVERYTHING CHANGED). So it is no surprise that I BELIEVE could be sung by swaying, tear-filled congregations in houses of worship--with its affirmation of faith in perservering with love--even during a “dark night of the soul”:
“Where is the laughter where is the hopeful
Where is the Light that makes me sing
Where is the courage, where is the faithful
Where is the wind beneath my wings?…
I can’t get back, my heart beats flat
The color’s black, I don’t feel like I used to
When something’s that wrong gotta make it right
When the day’s so long, gotta make it right
Could you give me an answer could you give me a sign
God don’t let these monsters make up my mind
You know what I’m after, it’s gonna just take some time
She magically turns darkness to light through the humble, prayerful, mesmerizing majesty of her angelic self harmonies immersed in the repeated I BELIEVEs.
And I know it’s gotta be me that changes
I know it’s gotta be me that makes it
Because I believe, I believe, I believe
This is pure Abra revival in her Universal Church of the BIG SKY. To say it’s good enough to Grammy is understatement, and in a sense, beside the point. Rather, her presence as transformative Priestess is renewed and once again fulfilled in this radiant connection to the heart of humanity.
INTO THE SUNSET opens the album with a colorful portrait of a boy who takes his shirt off in the rain, touches people in a golden way, and flies too high into the sky and is carried away. This apparent update of an ancient myth is trumpet backed, a little jazzy and the melody will likely grow on you until you finding yourself humming it.
SUGARITE rhymes with “meet” not “light.” And no, it’s not a new artificial sweetener. It starts with her quiet wailing and has a primitive, jungle like atmosphere. The title seems to be an affectionate nickname for someone “I can’t help but call your name” as she exclaims “it’s been a long, long road, Sugarite, Sugarite, I’m growing old.” Fastest song on the album has the alternative feel of KEEPS MY BODY WARM (STRANGEST PLACES) and MELANCHOLY LOVE (EVERYTHING CHANGED).
“ON THE WAY to your room
I’m alive, I’m a flutter, I’m a bloom.”
A sweet, slow and simple love song with a jazzy, flugelhorn, piano backing. Producer Mitch Watkins notes that he had a hard time distinguishing horns from Abra’s voice when mixing the album. Listen closely and you will hear what he means.
SORRY is a lovely, heart-felt “breezy,” jazzy, trumpet, and piano-by-Abra-backed, apology to one or more persons she has disappointed by not following through on a promised relationship. Good fans understand that part of the "job description" of being Abra results in far more social invitations than one person can possibly reciprocate.
TAKE CARE OF ME, a sad one, sounds like it was written for a dying friend (Gretta’s song):
“I can feel me falling into the sky
I’m blowing away into the wind
We won’t ever have to say good-bye
I’m just leaving this life that I’m in”
Steel guitar adds to the emotion. Melody grows with repeated listening. In fact, I've found myself humming every song on the album.
NO TURNING BACK is the only piece not written by Abra. Tom Freund’s moody, winter imagery sounds like Chris Isaak’s WICKED GAME at the start. No game here though as:
“You make me feel at home wherever I stand
Cause once you’ve crossed over there’s no turning back”
Memorable shivering imagery with a touch of danger, could find itself on movie soundtracks (and many of the others could also):
“Well this river shivers in the cold tonight
And I stand almost frozen under the neon light.”
YOU shifts the mood from winter to what sounds like young love in Paris in the springtime. Bouncy, upbeat, semi-jazzy and cute.
It is no wonder BIRTHDAY SONG’s haunting atmosphere reminded me of PRAYER FOR AN ANGEL (SING). Gene Elders' enchanting violin on both spans the twelve year time between songs without missing a string. BIRTHDAY is more melodic and less stark than PRAYER. Of course this is a celebration whereas PRAYER is more than tinged with sadness.
“For you are so beautiful
You are so wild, you are so young
Could you stay the way you are
You don’t have to carry this world on your shoulders
This life can be scary
When you get older”
Has a beguilingly slow and catchy melody that takes you by surprise—aided by rhythmic strings heard in five-time patterns.
ON THE WAY (CODA) is the 11th and final cut. It’s also the shortest and is the first Abra composition in which she does not sing. Rather, Mitch Watkins’ keyboards reproduce 12 extended, low, organ-like notes—some of which are heard at start of ON THE WAY. The effect is like being in an ancient, cavernous monastery with nothing but calm enveloping you. This “Abra-diance” rivals her perfect lullaby DREAM TIME (SING) in its peaceful effects on the receptive listener. In that Abra practices Yoga and has spoken about bodily “energy centers,” it is likely that this is intended as a prayer for opening her listeners’ heart centers.
In sum, another dazzlingly beautiful creation from my all time favorite singer-songwriter.
