Review: Amy Helm ‘Silver City’
By Hal Horowitz
“There’s no place like home” mused Judy Garland, and that cliché holds true for musicians too.
On Silver City, released Sept. 6, singer/songwriter Amy Helm’s first album in three years, she returns to her dad Levon Helm’s Studio in Woodstock, New York to track these ten rootsy, introspective folk songs. And while that’s not specifically home, she has spent plenty of time there both working with her late dad and recording her two previous releases.
That comfort is evident in the intimate, reflective and delicate performances of the ten tracks that comprise her fourth solo album. There’s a theme here too; “These stories are conversations….celebrating womanhood in all its complexities,” she writes in the pre-release notes.
Helm plays guitar and piano sparingly but mainly sticks to vocals. Producer Josh Kaufman (who also contributes guitar, bass and keyboards) frames these songs around Helm’s stunning vocals.
She delivers vulnerable clarity, infusing hints of soul, gospel and blues, at times even channeling Aretha Franklin who also balanced those genres. When she sings on “Money on 7” that “4am I’m trembling/ 5am I’m torn/ 6am I’m terrified/I’ll always be alone”, then lets the churchy backing singers loose with “What I’ve been through” she articulates the turmoil those lyrics express. For “If I Was King” Helm takes the persona of 17 year old Loretta Lee, a victim of domestic violence, thrown out of her home without her children lamenting “Broken bones/Blackened eyes/But I can see the devil in disguise” as the music softly percolates behind her.
For the title track, Helm describes a marriage gone astray with the riveting details “And the lies I try/To hold and hide/Crash and burn at our kitchen table,” accompanying herself on piano and never mentioning the tune’s name in the lyrics. The melancholy mood continues on “HWY 81” and “Dear Louisiana” where low key horns float in and drift out, emphasizing the meditative vibe.
Helm brings some church on “Amen Anyway,” a sad celestial song that seems to pay tribute to old boyfriend Sean Costello who died too young with “In the voice of my love before he OD’d in Atlanta/Who told me angels have to learn to sing alone.” Those striking and heartbreaking words are indicative of the deeply personal poetry the singer/songwriter unfurls on every track of this immaculately produced, written and performed set.
The playing is predominantly acoustic based, but a strangulated electric guitar grinds out the chords to “Baby Come Back” with uplifting verses that borrow from Billie Holiday “To let you breathe/To see you whole/To thank God and bless the child that’s got her own” elevated by searing, yet touching gospel backing vocals. It’s the disc’s most propulsive moment and another example of Helm’s soaring voice.
Clearly this is not what you’d choose to liven up your next party, nor does Helm intend it to be. It’s a rootsy, often intense and always earnest song cycle that doesn’t mince words, look towards, or perhaps even expect, commercial airplay.
Every minute of Silver City’s just over half hour running time reflects Helm’s storytelling talents and private insights, often putting the listener in the shoes of the song’s protagonist without pointing fingers or casting blame. Working with wonderfully sympathetic musicians and a producer who understands her creative vision, Helm has created a minor masterpiece.
Pre-order the album here
“Amen Anyway”
I’m a big fan of Amy’s. I can’t wait to hear her her new album.