Lucinda Williams - Essence

Between her well-documented determination to retail full control of her music and the plain-spoken willfulness of her best-known songs, Lucinda Williams is practically the working definition of a strong woman you do not want to mess with, but she reveals a very different side of her musical personality on her sixth album, Essence. Subtle and often stark, Essence is an unusually quiet and frequently downbeat set that depicts a fragile emotional vulnerability which rarely makes its presence felt in Williams' music; there's an unadorned longing in songs like "Blue" and "Lonely Girls" that's new and deeply affecting, and the leaf-in-the-breeze quaver of Williams' voice on "I Envy the Wind" is as heart-rending as anything she's ever committed to tape. But while a blue mood dominates Essence, this isn't an album about the blue funk of heartbreak, but a chronicle of the search for transcendence over sorrow in our lives, as her characters look for a path out of isolation ("Out of Touch"), try to find answers through faith ("Get Right With God"), or reconcile love with the desires of the flesh ("Essence"). As a songwriter, Williams has long shown a knack for charting the human heart and mind with intelligence and economy, and Essence finds her at the peak of her form; the delicacy of this music does not speak of weakness, but of the passion and bravery it takes to bare one's soul. And while Williams has gained a certain infamy for her obsessive perfectionism in the studio, the quality of her work speaks for the wisdom of her decision-making process, and Essence proves how well she understands the art of recording; producing in collaboration with Charlie Sexton (Tom Tucker and Bo Ramsey also contributed), Essence sounds full and rich even in its quietest moments, and her sweet-and-sour voice blends with the arrangements with subtle perfection. Those hoping for another dose of the bluesy roots rock of Car Wheels on a Gravel Road may be disappointed, but if you want to take a deep and compelling look into the heart and soul of a major artist, then you owe it to yourself to hear Essence. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide

Name Credits Alan Messer Package Design, Photography Bernie Grundman Mastering Bo Ramsey Producer, Slide Guitar, Guitar (Electric) Charlie Sexton Harmony, Vocal Harmony, Guitar (12 String Acoustic), Hand Drums, Guitar (Rhythm), Piano, Guitar Loops, Guitar (12 String), Fuzz Bass, Percussion, Vocals (Background), Guitar (Tremolo), Slide Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Vocals, Producer, Drums David Mansfield Viola, Violin Gary Louris Vocals (Background) James Harley Assistant Engineer, Assistant Jim Keltner Percussion, Drums Jim Lauderdale Vocal Harmony, Vocals (Background), Vocals Joe "King" Carrasco Hand Coloring Joe Lepinski Assistant, Digital Editing, Assistant Engineer Joy Lynn White Vocals (Background), Vocal Harmony Lucinda Williams Producer, Guitar (Electric), Guitar (Resonator), Guitar (Acoustic) Mike Griffith Production Coordination Reese Wynans Organ, Organ (Hammond) Ryan Adams Guitar (Tremolo), Tremolo Sheila Davis Hair Stylist, Make-Up Tom Tucker Mixing, Engineer, Producer Tony Garnier Bass (Acoustic), Bass