- Music
- 03 Apr 02
In which Amy and Emily try to do what they do best, crafting poetic, witty and observant vignettes about love-life as we know it, with all its worrisome twists and turns, set to an eclectic mix of folk-rock and country
In which Amy and Emily try to do what they do best, crafting poetic, witty and observant vignettes about love-life as we know it, with all its worrisome twists and turns, set to an eclectic mix of folk-rock and country. They’ve been doing it since 1985, so if you haven’t given in to their acoustic-based charms by now you probably aren’t destined to.
On the upside, Become You brings less of the intrusive syrupy strings and souped-up funkiness of recent outings. Instead you get a more straight-forward, radio-friendly, mainstream effort, perhaps best exemplified by the coffee-table sax on ‘You’ve Got To Show’.
The dull ‘Hope Alone’ simmers harmlessly like Celine Dion on Prozac, while the shifting ‘Collecting You’ could be from the Suzanne Vega songbook.
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‘Starkville’ paints a graphic portrait of rural America and boasts a neat guitar figure over a shimmying rhythm subtly spiced with warm accordion chords. But ‘Our Deliverance’ is truly stunning, a folksy melody aided and abetted by that delicious accordion and mandolin. ‘She’s Saving Me’ is equally captivating, and any album that has a couple of classy tracks like ‘Moment Of Forgiveness’ and the poignant if inconclusive ‘Deconstruction’ deserves house-room at the very least.