Spotlight on New Releases by Women, Part 1
A lot of great music made by women has crossed our desk (and CD player) lately; here are some of our favorites.
Maria Muldaur - One Hour Mama: The Blues of Victoria Spivey
"Blues Queen" Victoria Spivey, who passed away in 1976, was and remains someone very special to Maria Muldaur. Enjoying her heyday in the 1920s and '30s, Spivey mentored Muldaur in the 1960s and gave her her first chance to record. Now Maria honors her friend with this loving tribute of a dozen songs associated with Victoria, half of which are Spivey originals. Spivey was fond of bawdy lyrics and Muldaur, with fan favorite "It Ain't the Meat (It's the Motion)" is no stranger to this type of song either. Here she gets a little naughty with the old timey acoustic blues "My Handy Man" which includes lyrics like "He shakes my ashes/Greases my griddle/Churns my butter/Strokes my fiddle." As you can imagine, "Organ Grinder Blues" is risque too but Spivey's own "No, Papa, No!" is more just an advisement to a lover to keep things from getting boring. Guests here include Taj Mahal who shines on a call-and-response duet with Maria on "Gotta Have What it Takes" and Elvin Bishop who duets with Muldaur on the Lonnie Johnson chestnut "What Makes You Act Like That?"
Dahlia Dumont - Fantasia
It is a bit of a disservice to refer to Dumont as a pop singer; indeed she is but there's more to her than that. Opening track "Betty II," for example, bops like a theme from a hit musical or Broadway show, catchy in melody, beat and lyrics and strong enough, of all the strong material here, to make Dumont a star all by itself. And it will earworm you like crazy! Dumont shows her jazzy side on the sublime groove of "Stalker," adds a hip hop flavor to "Semi Automatic Trinket (Take It!)" and nods to His Royal Purpleness on the Prince-recalling "Fantasia" where she also sings some of the song in French. Dumont mostly just sings on
Fantasia but she occasionally plays ukulele, including on the breezy reggae cut "Sentimental Reasons." Full instrumentation is provided by a host of players throughout, although "L'Opossum (Drops)," another cut sung in French, sounds great with Dahlia being accompanied just by double bass, trumpet and bugle.
Dar Williams - Hummingbird Highway
In explanation of the title of her latest release, Williams says, "It's a highway, filled with deep, exotic colors and beautiful delicate things as well as the perils that come from moving so fast." And the music here is just as intriguing as that notion. The album's title cut, a driving pop song with an Americana bent, is a song about reconciliation that finds joy among the doubt. The song sets the tone for the positivity that plays out over the rest of the album; even "All is Come Undone" which features that phrase repeated as the chorus, ends with the lyrics changing to "all is well and done." "Tu Sais Le Printemps" finds Williams in a jazzy mood and she sounds confident singing some of the song's lyrics in French, giving the cut a very Continental feeling. A cover of Richard Thompson's "I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight" is resplendent with twangy guitar and a beat that leads straight to the dance floor; it contrasts starkly with the cut that follows it, the ominous country rocker "Sacred Mountain." It's time for a bluegrass break during "Put the Coins on His Eyes," a bucolic mid-tempo groove that touches on the troubles of unionized (or non-unionized) workers and is probably the only song you'll ever hear that mentions the Wagner Act which give workers the right to collective bargaining. Williams is a fine storyteller and she has the voice to give every reading here plenty of gravitas.
Hannah Delynn - Trust Fall
Here's the debut release from Delynn, a Nashville-based singer and songwriter who plays a variety of guitars here as well as synthesizer. Opening cut "For the Record" finds her singing delicately to acoustic guitar and gentle orchestration; the song's understatement accents the fact that the lyrics reflect doubt about a love relationship. With the voice of a songbird, "Leaf on a River" flows as easy as you would imagine, with the song title also being an apt description of Delynn's style. "Best Guess" in fact is so delicate that it might be mistaken for a lullaby, and the song's soft delivery is a fine chance to hear the nuance in Hannah's voice. Delynn perfectly conveys the mindset of someone struggling with unrequited love on "The Rooster's Dead," which really doesn't have anything to do with a cockerel. The overall feeling here is perhaps a message of "you're not alone" for those who are mired is a blue mood but the hopefulness within will appeal to those who are doing just fine too as Delynn's voice is a joy to behold regardless of what she's singing about.
