Like Bruce Springsteen's Born In The U.S.A., Lucinda Williams' Car
Wheels On A Gravel Road was that rare album that perfectly summed up everything an
artist stood for while crafting songs loaded with hook after hook. And like
Springsteen after Born, it left Williams nowhere to go but sideways. Since Wheels' 1998 release, Williams
has gone quiet (Essence), entrenched herself in the blues (World Without Tears), and plunged into
miserablism (West),
creating sustained moods that wore out their welcomes over the length of an
album.
That's isn't a problem for Little Honey, a winningly eclectic set
that finds Williams thinking about pleasing the crowd again while seemingly
playing whatever fits her mood. One of several songs to feature sweet harmonies
from Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs, the album-opening "Real Love" practically
challenges listeners not to turn up the volume. It's all catchy rock grooves
and joyous explosion, anchored around the guitar of Williams regular Doug
Pettibone. The honky-tonk-friendly "Circles And X's," written in 1985, follows,
and from there, the album rolls through ballad portraiture ("Little Rock Star"),
a delicate second-chance lament ("If Wishes Were Horses"), and an AC/DC cover.
Why? Why not? Williams sounds like she's enjoying herself, never more so than
on the losers-in-love Elvis Costello duet "Jailhouse Tears," and the mood
becomes infectious. Williams spent much of this decade proving she can branch
out, but here she's staged something even more impressive: a pleasing
homecoming.