Lucinda Williams’
\nCar Wheels on a Gravel Road<\/i> may not have set the charts on
\nfire, but it was the album that had critics swooning in 1998. She
\nbeat out Lauryn Hill in Village Voice for “Album of the Year”
\nhonors and netted her a Grammy award. It was an album six years in
\ndevelopment and was considered by many to be one of the best albums
\nof the ’90s. After scoring a banner year in 1998, the pressure for
\na follow-up loomed.<\/p>\n
Three years later, Williams released
\nEssence<\/i>, arguably her most intense and intimate album. Most
\npeople would shrug at the time it took for
\nEssence<\/i> to come out (the album’s actual recording time was
\nonly a few weeks), but when you’re operating on Williams time,
\nthree years is like three months. The album was recorded in a fit
\nof creative inspiration and is just enough of a departure from
\nCar Wheels on a Gravel Road<\/i>. While
\nCar Wheels<\/i> came close to being over-produced, Essence revels
\nin its imperfections. Some songs drone on for too long, some sound
\ntoo much like one another.<\/p>\n
Three songs stand out on
\nEssence<\/i>: “Blue,” the title track and “Get Right With God.”
\n“Blue” represents the majority of the songs on
\nEssence<\/i>; it’s heartbreakingly sad and forces the listener to
\nabsorb all of the pain. It’s the equivalent of seeing a friend cry
\nand break down in front of you at a restaurant. “Essence” is the
\nmost mainstream song in the bunch and “Get Right With God” is
\ninstantly memorable because it’s the most uptempo song in the bunch
\nby a landslide.<\/p>\n
\nEssence<\/i>‘s biggest flaw is its lack of song variety. It’s the
\nfirst Lucinda Williams album that forces you to give it third,
\nfourth and even fifth listens before it sinks in.
\nEssence<\/i> was not an “album of the year” type album of
\nWilliams. Instead, it was an album that she felt she could record
\nwith her new creative freedoms gained by
\nCar Wheels’<\/i> success. That all said, it is an album that has
\nheld up extremely well for repeated listens.<\/p>\n