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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk
Few artists in recent memory have been able to wring more from less than Lucinda Williams. The hauntingly beautiful, wistful and often breathtaking Essence is another case in point of how far raw emotion and honesty can carry an artist. Williams's singing is at its paralyzing best throughout 11 bare originals, an incredibly affecting vocal performance by a woman who was not blessed with exceptional tone, range or pitch. Throughout, her voice is incredibly naked, vulnerable and wrought with feeling. "Blue" and "Broken Butterflies" are gorgeous anti-lullabies whose simple melodies belie their poignant ruminations. The title track is a sultry and susceptible sex-as-drug come-on while "Reason to Cry" has all the hallmarks of a classic country lament. The only departure from the subdued mood is "Get Right With God", a rousing gospel tune that practically begs for salvation through punishment and is the rare acknowledgement of a world beyond Williams's own fears and desires. More meditative than the personal narratives found on Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, Essence is ultimately more powerful. Williams wallows in sorrow and weakness, and the result is moving and disarming. --Marc Greilsamer
Product Description
CD
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
When I first heard this album, it didn't have an instantaneous effect on me, as did 'Car Wheels', but like a fine wine, it's been maturing on the rack, and it's taste now is better than I ever thought possible. It's probably more of a winter album, whereas 'Car Wheels' is probably more of a summer album. This is maybe because it's more melancholy than it's predecessor. But it doesn't sound any the worse for that.
The opening track 'Lonely Girls' is a good lesson in musical minimalism; the odd guitar chord, some rasping vocals - a pedestrian pace yes, but the overall effect is a delightful melancholy, which at the same time manages to sound uplifting. 'Steal Your Love' is similar in style. 'I Envy the Wind' and 'Blue' sound sad, but like a lot of sad things, they achieve a beauty all of their own, and the latter track is my favourite on the album. The rockier tracks 'Out of Touch', 'Essence' and 'Get Right With God' are equally pleasing.
'Go find a jukebox and see what a quarter will do' is the opening line of 'Blue', my favourite track on the album and is a lyric I could not have come up with in several lifetimes. This may have something to do with the fact I'm not from the deep south USA, but this woman is quite simply a genius. If you haven't discovered Lucinda Williams yet, discover her now and buy this album.
25 of 27 people found the following review helpful
By Mr. M. J. Hulme
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Audio CD
How do you follow a Grammy winning album of mostly upbeat, country tunes played by a full sounding, hard-playing band? The easy answer would have been to dish up more of the same, not to waver from the successful formula established on 'Car Wheels On A Gravel Road'. Not so, if you're Lucinda Williams.
Essence strips down the arrangements and slows the pace of the songs to a melancholic crawl, and while the band arrangements remain, songs here are driven by softly played acoustic guitar. And it is every bit as magical as the much-loved 'Car Wheels', but Williams has added a new dimension of intimacy. On tracks such as Blue, where her voice is so prominent in the mix, you can feel and hear the emotion and raw beauty of the simple tune. Listen to this through headphones and it sounds phenomenal, as if she were in the room with you.
Standout track is the title track, a grinding, slow-burning ode to sexual desire and lust which features the most astonishing backing vocal performance from Gary Louris (Jayhawks). Having said that, there aren't any tunes here that don't stand out after repeated listens.
Lucinda Williams has always put raw emotion into her music, but it has never sounded as affecting or genuine as it does here. Curl up on your sofa with a bottle of wine and this album, and watch the winter evenings go by.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Audio CD
Lucinda is awesome, and this record like her last three (including Lucinda Williams, Sweet Old World, and Car Wheels) are tremendous records. This record is perhaps less country than you would anticipate, think Emmy-Lou's Wrecking Ball. If you 've never heard of Lucinda Williams before, start with 'Lucinda Williams', if you have, what the hell are you waiting for. It gets better than this, but not much.
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4.1 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastically brilliant.
Great album - her best I think - better than Car Wheels ... eleven very different songs, not a dud among them. Read more
Published 4 months ago by delwboy
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sexy
Sad, but sexy. If you're a man and this doesn't turn you on something has fallen off whilst you were sleeping. Sensual voice, great songs, beautiful and accomplished musicianship.
Published 4 months ago by sut
5.0 out of 5 stars
Achy Breaky Heart
Hurt and desire mapped by a country poet. Charlie Sexton sprinkles gorgeous guitar lines like gold dust. Read more
Published on 22 Jun 2005 by B Moraes
5.0 out of 5 stars
if Neil Young had been a woman...
If Neil Young had been a woman, he probably would have been Lucinda Williams; both have that world-weary angst, both have rather thin voices that are decidely not pretty, but that... Read more
Published on 24 Mar 2004 by Alejandra Vernon
2.0 out of 5 stars
What in tarnation is all the fuss about?
As an occasional fan of CW, my eyes were caught by a feature article in the local paper on singer Lucinda Williams and her latest release, ESSENCE. Read more
Published on 7 Sep 2003 by Joseph Haschka
5.0 out of 5 stars
For me this is the album of 2001
Having lived with this album for 6 months I have to admit when I first heard it I wasn't sure about some of it as I had been such a big fan of "Car Wheels....". Read more
Published on 18 Dec 2001 by Dr Roots
5.0 out of 5 stars
the more you listen, the better it gets !!
I just can't stop playing this c.d.!
It seems to get better with every play ;whether it's the opener"lonely girls", which justs rolls along... Read more
It seems to get better with every play ;whether it's the opener"lonely girls", which justs rolls along... Read more
Published on 26 Sep 2001 by rockinjohnny12
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent reflective subtle and enchanting
This is another excellent album from Lucinda Williams but very different from "Car Wheels" - don't come expecting more of the same. Read more
Published on 20 Sep 2001 by Ray Carrick
3.0 out of 5 stars
Very disappointing after Wheels
Too wishy washy, not enough angst and, frankly, too Nancy Griffithy. I guess it's a bit like books - we only have one to offer; the rest is let's do it agin.
Published on 4 Aug 2001
4.0 out of 5 stars
Slow burner as the sticker on the CD stated....
Id never even heard of the lass prior to being bought a copy for a recent birthday. I'm not exactly a country fan so was rather bemused to be given this CD, and approached with... Read more
Published on 12 Jun 2001 by snhague@aol.com
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