Tift Merritt serves up a feast fit for a King with her latest offering “Stitch of the World”. With an opening four song appetizer, a 3 song main course, and 3 sweet ballads topping things off, Tift leaves you more than thankful for what you’ve just received. ‘Dusty Old Man’ is a zesty entrée in which Tift’s witty assertion that her man ‘won’t back down, don’t make plans, he’s as mean as a snake’, pairs a rockabilly rhythm with Tusk-era Fleetwood Mac drum patterns and backing vocals to tasty effect. The country- flavoured ‘Heartache is an Uphill Climb’, initially asks ‘How does the scar forgive the knife?’, before repeatedly advising that it’s going to be ‘step by step, and take time, time, time’ before any healing occurs. ‘My Boat’ is a deceptively pleasing mandolin-bathed homage to friendship, while the final appetizer ‘Love Soldiers On’ is drizzled with 50’s-style guitar as it reiterates the album’s themes of loss, renewal, courage and hope. The atmospheric opening to the title track is a bittersweet gift that dissolves into a melody which, mouth-wateringly succulent though it is, is surpassed by the following delicacy ‘Icarus’, a luscious heart-rending piano ballad served with Kate Bush styling’s that has you reaching for the repeat button. ‘Proclamation of the Bones’ ends the main course with a full-of-beans Southern boogie, as Tift saucily suggests ‘Why don’t you come meet me here, tonight, tonight, tonight’, before imploring ‘so why don’t you just stay round here tonight?’ as the song reaches its steamy climax. The final 3 tracks feature producer Sam Beam on backing vocals and are all suitably sugary confections without being cloying. ‘Wait for Me’ has the new Mum alternately promising and requesting ‘gotta do right by your baby and gotta do right by your lady’ as Marc Ribot’s sweetly distorted guitar joins understated pedal steel to provide a suitably sparkling end to another tasty concoction from this criminally under-appreciated artist. TIFT MERRITT Stitch of the World (YepRoc 2017) Réagissez à cet article / Comment this article commentaires / comments
