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| REVIEWS |
Heather
Waters
Shadow of You
(Red
Fogg)
I recently spent some time away from hectic city life for a
brief sojourn in the mountains with only a weary old-cat and
Heather Waters (musically speaking) for company. As the damp,
fogged air cleared from day to night, it was Waters’ Shadow
of You, brimming with the soulful croon of time and places
far away that proved to be the ideal accompanying aura for the
moment. It is her softly-spoken trek through America’s
vast landscape of country, bluegrass, and fundamentally rootsy
music that beckons the most evocative nature of music made for
the soul. She sings with passionate sighs, she embodies certain
sadness through her words, and the compositions paint a palette
rich with tradition and simple wonderment.
For the most part, Waters undertakes primary songwriter duties,
but several tunes on the album feature other talented scribes
including folk/Americana singer/songwriter Gillian Welch. And
while they all land their hand to the creation of Shadow
of You, the album does not suffer writing inconsistencies-
on the contrary in fact, the entirety sounds more like the work
of one rather than the a collaboration between several writers.
The strongest effort, the desperately melancholic “Josephine,”
sings of great autumn sadness coiled together with Waters’
wistful tone and fragile musical backdrop. On Welch’s
penned “You Just Don’t Love Me,” Waters sings
with great emotion; sounding just as heartbroken as the painfully
lonely words to only her acoustic echo and the sounds of a mandolin.
It is a vibe reverberated again in the spiteful opener “Brown
Jacket,” and the tender “Alone in Tennessee,”
where she sings; “I get lost inside your guitar / you’re
bound to break me and my eggshell heart.”
The nature of the most of the songs is what makes Shadow
of You such a rewarding listen. While it would be safe
to say Waters’ work is best suited for more personal reflection,
the songs found here are rooted in a great bond between Waters
and the rich history found in traditional American music. Her
work flows just as naturally as the great streams and rivers
that snake their way through America’s heartlands (and
all of this from a girl who grew up on the outskirts of Chicago,
raised by a steelworker and corrections officer no less). And
as results prove, they are able to fill the vast emptiness that
undoubtedly inspired some of these songs; Waters is endless
heart and soul.
Reviewed by
Billy Maulana
January 31st, 2005 |
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