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BARRICADES & BRICKWALLS
Kasey Chambers
(Warner)
This Aussie singer-songwriter follows up her 2001 debut, The Captain, with another collection of melodic roots music, although this recording is decidedly more self-assured and country-leaning.
In stores Tuesday, Chambers' latest CD launches with the searing title track, a song that the artist herself admits is the heaviest thing she's ever recorded. She should do more of this.
"Barricades and brickwalls won't keep me from you/ You can tie me down on a railroad track, you can let that freight train lose," sings the scratchy, sweet-voiced singer. "Iron bars and big ole cars won't run me out of town/ Well, I'll be damned if you're not my man before the sun goes down."
Strangely enough, Chambers follows B&B with the poppiest tune on the album, the Jewel-like Not Pretty Enough, before rebounding with the twangy On A Bad Day, which features her obvious predecessor, Lucinda Williams, on harmony.
Chambers' sensibility is a cross between Williams and Kristin Hersh, and if you think about the country-soul and punk power respectively of those two women, that's quite a compliment.
The standout track here is the heartache-ridden A Million Tears, a duet with Matthew Ryan.
But worth checking out too are the lovely laments Nullabor Song and This Mountain, a spirited cover of the Gram Parsons song Still Feelin' Blue and the ode-to-love Falling Into You.
Chambers, who is pregnant, isn't expected to tour in support of her excellent new songs immediately.
Track Listing