An exceptional album with attitude and twang.
Following on from the 2024 release “Still Provoked”, which was a 10th anniversary re-imagining of her “Provoked” album, Sweeney appeared on the cover with her mouth tightly taped up and the album title also across it. This time, she has turned her back on us for the cover photograph, donned her Stetson and is heading back to her roots.
Sweeney has delivered another impressive set of country songs with the help of her long-time guitarist and co-producer Harley Husbands. The introspection that accompanied her “Married Alone” album, recorded immediately after her divorce, has been replaced, and we see a new, bold Sweeney taking the stage. She comments on that change, “My last album, ‘Married Alone,’ was made right after my divorce. I’ve lived some life. Not all of it’s been pretty. But I feel like that’s what makes really good music.”.
Opening with a song written by Jerry Lee Lewis, ‘Find It Where I Can’, “Rhinestone Requiem” is off to an impressive start. One of only two cover versions in the collection, both of which fit perfectly. The second one, ‘Last Hard Bible’, written by Kasey Chambers, is also first-class. The sure-to-be wood floor stomping crowd pleaser has Chambers and her brother Nash on backing vocals.
The single ‘Diamonds and Divorce Decrees’ is a classic old-style country song. The clever lyrics over another lilting honky tonk soundtrack. Henri Herbet on keys welds the music together with some pounding Jerry Lee Lewis-style piano playing. At just under three minutes, it’s a perfect choice for radio play. Sweeney sings, “Our fairy tale went right to hell and now I’m here in between / A diamond and a divorce decree.” The lyrics came right out of a real-life situation. After moving, Sweeney left some of her personal effects at her mother’s house. As it was getting in the way, she was asked to come and collect it. Sweeney recalls that all the boxes contained were her grandmother’s diamonds and her divorce decrees. A song was born.
The whole band gels together, and it is clear Sweeney enjoys “being the only woman in a five-piece country band” and says as much in ‘As Long As There’s A Honky Tonk’. The harmonica leads this one with some great country guitar playing and old-time piano backing. Buck Owens will just have to wait a little longer, as we are not closing up the honky tonk just yet.
A beautiful, mournful fiddle starts ‘Houston Belongs To Me’ and takes the pace down a notch in another break-up tune. You begin to get the point of the set, and if it’s therapy for Sweeney to get it all out or just there to help a listener going through something similar, it really doesn’t matter either way. If we can all benefit from the music and lyrics, then Sweeney has done her job. Tommy J Detamore, with his weeping steel guitar, takes the level of sadness to eleven. Even so, there is hope, redemption and a whole lot of attitude in there. Sweeney asks only one thing: for her ex to leave Houston and never come back. “When we call it quits / I hope on this we can agree / That Houston, Houston belongs to me”.
This country collection concludes with a last waltz. The clever lyrics and idea for ‘Half Lit in ¾ Time’ are a classic country song that draws inspiration from the great songwriters of the past. As the bourbon and beer flow, Sweeney is trying to remember to forget.
There is a ghost of Patsy Cline, some memories of Merle Haggard, and a slice of George Jones rolled into a fabulous contemporary album of honky tonk country. Is Sweeney still provoked? If so, she has been motivated into producing something special.
