The southern flavor of this collection
is impossible to ignore. It would be even if Lee didn’t make a big deal about
her regional roots. However, none of the regional flavor heard in Erica
Sunshine Lee’s music prevents listeners from different areas getting into her
music. The subject matter of her songwriting has universal appeal and even her
most personal concerns have an overarching common theme of humanity that any
feeling person will respond to. Her seventh studio release Elixir runs a little
long with fifteen cuts, but she retains immense likability even when she’s
repeating herself a little. It’s purely speculation, but it’s a valid
interpretation to hear this abundance of music as a self-conscious attempt to
knock one out of the park artistically and make an emphatic statement of her
creative vitality. It certainly highlights her productivity and impressive
consistency, but some will conclude that you are most likely to create a
masterpiece when you are relaxed rather than flexing too much muscle to force
the issue.
You will be hard pressed, however, to
hear any outright holes in this album. It starts off with a blast. “Shut Up
Heart”, naturally, deals with some weighty issues of the heart but the lyric
and vocal delivery alike play up the darkly comic aspects of the song much more
than its painful elements. “The Bottle Ain’t Enough” is the first of a handful
of bluesy stompers that Lee includes on the album. She handles these sorts of
songs with such wide-eyed, uninhibited glee that she carries listeners along
for the ride with minimal effort. These chest-beating rock influenced numbers,
however, seem to convey less of her inner life than songs like “My Favorite
Word”. There are a number of instances on Elixir where the posturing of songs
like “The Bottle Ain’t Enough” falls away and listeners come face to face, ear
to ear, with the unvarnished Erica Sunshine Lee. Beautiful, almost classically
themed, piano playing is the musical highlight of “My Favorite Word”, but her
stunning singing matches it every step of the way.
There’s piano in “Jesus and Georgia”,
but it is much more understated. Acoustic guitar provides much of the song’s
musical body and tasteful, brushed percussion stylishly accentuates everything.
There isn’t one dominant musical element; instead, the approach here is much
more orchestral with Lee’s singing having a crowning effect on the piece.
“Medicine” is a slow burn country ballad that rejects a minimalist approach in
favor of a slightly weepy mid-tempo jaunt. There’s piano lines diving in and
out of the mix and precise, but never too thought out, drumming that sets a
definite tone. “Drunker” is quite a playful tune this late in the album and its
backing vocals, along with the jaunty tempo, give it different feel than any
other song on Elixir. “Take the High Road”, the album’s closer, is a sharp
contrast. The straight-ahead country beat, combination of acoustic and
understated electric guitars, plus the climatic chorus are never heavy-footed
at all, but quietly assertive and affirming the bedrock musical values
informing Lee’s tradition and her own take on songwriting. It brings Elixir to
a solid finish that will leave many listeners satisfied.
8 out of 10 stars
Michael Saulman
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