Country music with beautifully heartfelt lyrics reflecting on the rhythms of life.
This is Amanda Anne Platt and The Honeycutters’ seventh studio album after 2022’s double album ‘The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea’. It is very firmly country music – the music of artists like Emmylou Harris – with no great forays into new musical territories. There is no hint of acid jazz or hip hop on it. But this is not a criticism at all, as it is full of great melodies to listen to. Platt’s voice is beautifully clear and she is supported very well by her band: Matt Smith (pedal steel and electric guitars), Rick Cooper (bass/vocals), Evan Martin (drums/vocals), and Kevin Williams (keys/vocals).
Unlike previous albums, this was recorded “live” with the five musicians together in the studio and minimal overdubs. Many tracks were recorded in one take and some spoken words before and after songs are left in to give a really good “natural” feel to the album, with it feeling less formal and manufactured than most.
However, it is the lyrics that make the album stand apart from others. They are poetic, which sometimes means that their message isn’t absolutely crystal clear but this is more than compensated for by the strong general sweeping pictures that they paint. They are evocative and heartfelt- you get the feeling of Platt being someone who is both reflective and with a big heart. Throughout, the passage of time and the rhythms of life, with births and deaths, are considered and Platt herself has given birth in recent times.
One example of Platt’s powerful imagery can be seen in the opener ‘Mirage’, with its piano intro, where she is in a “smoky hotel restaurant” similar to the ones she went to on holiday as a child. She goes for a walk and describes the scene beautifully; “the sky is lavender and rose gold/ another sweet and salty summer night/ an empty road that smells like charcoal”.
The reflections on life come in many forms. ‘The Muse of Time’ ponders the passage of time: “It’s a circle, so they say/ all our years all our days/ what a puzzle, what a maze/ holds us tightly even as it slips away”. Starting with simple acoustic guitar, violin is added, and then more fuzzed-up electric guitar with steel guitar coming in at the end. In a similar vein ‘St Angela’ with a church-like organ says: “this ebbing and flowing, it holds us somehow/ still there’s no peace in knowing the tide’s moving out”. ‘Big Year’, written in an important year for her, where perhaps a lover left: “you wrote I love you but I have to go” has her wishing for “smaller” years or else being able to cope better with the turbulence that life brings.
‘Pocket Song’ has affectionate memories of childhood times spent with her grandmother without the overt sentimentality that some country music has. The upbeat, swinging ‘The Lesson’ reflects on her twenties and thirties in Asheville, North Carolina, where she comes from, and particularly a sports bar where she used to meet friends.
Platt’s big heart is seen in ‘Forever’ about a suffering friend who she is supporting. She has been in similar circumstances herself and offers the comfort that difficulties don’t last forever. ‘Forget Me Not Blue’, with its nice groove, deals with grief and the idea that life goes on after it. The final track ‘Empty Little Room’ is, according to her, “about healing, and closing the door on cycles of mistrust and loneliness”. Platt shows her empathy with refugees who have escaped beautiful but war-torn homelands to find a safer future in ‘Windowpane’. There is also a good, worthwhile cover of the love song ‘On The Street Where You Lived’ from the musical My Fair Lady.
It is easy to think of artists who have petered out a bit after a few albums, but there is absolutely no sense of this here. Platt’s reflective and empathetic nature means that she still has lots to say of real interest and her enjoyable music still sounds fresh.
I’m a massive fan of Amanda’s music, so it’s great to welcome a new album. Thanks for an insightful review Andrew.