Amelia White - Rocket Rearview (2022) [Hi-Res]

LISTENING TO ROCKET REARVIEW, THE NEW ALBUM BY EAST NASHVILLE FOLK-POP TRUTHTELLER AMELIA WHITE, GOT ME THINKING ABOUT THE PHASES OF AN ARTIST’S CAREER: EMERGING ARTIST; MID-CAREER; TREASURE OR LEGEND. MAYBE MID-CAREER LACKS THE EXCITEMENT OF THAT FIRST DECADE OR SO OF DISCOVERY, BUT IT’S NOT A BAD PLACE TO BE. MID-CAREER ARTISTS KEEP MAKING NEW WORK, CONSISTENTLY TOUR, GARNER REVIEWS, GAIN FANS. BUT WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO REACH THAT NEXT PHASE, WHERE YOU HAVE NOTHING LEFT TO PROVE EXCEPT HOW GOOD YOU’VE BEEN ALL ALONG?

WELL, SOMETIMES IT TAKES A PANDEMIC. ROCKET REARVIEW — A SHUTDOWN-DICTATED EFFORT THAT COULD HAVE BEEN A PLACEHOLDER IN WHITE’S TWENTY-SOME YEAR CAREER OF CONSISTENTLY GOOD SONGS, CRITIC LOVE FROM NPR AND ROLLING STONE, RECORDINGS AND PERFORMANCES —TURNS OUT TO BE A BREAKTHROUGH. THESE ELEVEN SONGS PULSE, THROB AND FLOAT LIKE A NASHVILLE BACKYARD ON A LATE SUMMER MORNING. THERE’S AN ALLEY OUT BACK TOO, WHERE THE NOT-PRETTY PARTS OF LIFE UNFOLD AND DO QUIET BATTLE WITH EACH OTHER AND WITH HARD-WORKING PEOPLE LIKE AMELIA WHITE, WHO MAKE THEIR WAY IN THE WORLD THROUGH THEIR ART. AND THE GOOD NEWS: ART WINS.

WHEN THE PANDEMIC PUT A HOLD ON TOURING — THE LIFEBLOOD OF ARTISTS LIKE WHITE WHO TEND TO DO EVERYTHING THEMSELVES AND LOVE DOING IT — AMELIA FOUND HERSELF AT HOME OVER AN EXTENDED PERIOD FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE SHE MOVED TO NASHVILLE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY. SHE USED HER TIME OFF THE ROAD CREATIVELY AND PUBLISHED A BOOK OF POETRY. AND SHE LEARNED THE BENEFITS OF DAILY ROUTINE AND BEING TRULY HOME WITH HER WIFE, INSTEAD OF ALWAYS ON THE WAY OUT THE DOOR TO ANOTHER SHOW.

WHITE HAD A MORE FORMAL RELEASE SET FOR 2020, BUT THE CHALLENGE OF RELEASING NEW MUSIC WITHOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF TOURING TO PROMOTE IT PUT THAT RECORD ON HOLD. STILL, THE SONGS KEPT COMING FOR THIS PROLIFIC ARTIST WHO HAS REGULARLY RELEASED NEW MUSIC SINCE HER DEBUT ALBUM BLUE SOUVENIRS IN 2001. MAYBE IT WAS THE SENSE OF PEACE FROM BEING AT HOME, AND THE BROADENING OF THE SCOPE OF HER WRITING THROUGH POETRY. MAYBE THERE’S NEW STRENGTH IN REALIZING THE JOB YOU’VE BEEN BUSTING YOUR ASS AT IS WHAT MAKES YOU FEEL THE BEST AFTER ALL.

AMELIA CONVENED WITH PRODUCER AND LONG-TIME EAST NASHVILLE MUSICAL COMPADRE DAVE COLEMAN AND THE TWO OF THEM WORKED QUICKLY, CALLING IN DRUMMER CHRIS BENELLI AND LAYING DOWN BASIC TRACKS, GUITARS, PIANO, VOCAL PARTS WITHOUT FUSS. THEY RELIED ON THEMSELVES FOR OVERDUBS EXCEPT IN A FEW INSTANCES, ALLOWING THE THOUGHTFUL POETRY OF THE LYRICS AND MELODIES TO DICTATE SPACE FOR OCCASIONAL TOUCHES LIKE MOLLY THOMAS’ STRINGS ON “FIGHTING” AND PAUL NIEHAUS’ STEEL GUITAR ON “FINDING MY WAY HOME.” IRAKLI GABRIEL CONTRIBUTED GUITAR AND VOCALS TO TWO TRACKS AND ERIN RAE MCKASKLE SANG BACKUPS ON THE TITLE TRACK.

THE OMINOUS THRUM OF ALBUM OPENER “DEVIL’S GONNA EAT YOU ALIVE” LETS YOU KNOW THIS WILL BE NO POLITE FRONT PARLOR DISCOURSE. THE FIGHT IS REAL WHEN YOU TRY TO OUTPACE THE BAD GUYS, AS AMELIA SINGS: “GET ON YOUR KNEES AND BEG FOR YOUR LIFE.”

“IN THE TIME” EVOKES NENEH CHERRY’S TALK-SINGING, WHITE’S VOICE GIRLISH BUT SEASONED WITH WISDOM. THERE’S A PRESCIENCE IN THE LYRICS, LIFE FLIPPING THROUGH ALL THE CARDS IN ITS DECK “IN THE TIME IT TAKES TO SHOOT A GUN.” MAYBE WHEN WE STOP RUNNING WE CAN TUNE IN HARDER. AMELIA GRAPPLED WITH THE STATE OF THE WORLD IN HER LAST ALBUM, 2019’S RHYTHM OF THE RAIN, BUT THAT WAS THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD OF A MOVING VEHICLE. SITTING STILL, SHE’S FEELING ALL THE CHANGES NOW AND THE LISTENER FEELS THEM TOO.

THE TRACK “ROCKET REARVIEW,” CO-WRITTEN WITH SPOKEN WORD ARTIST MINTON SPARKS, TAKES THE TIME-HONORED TRADITION OF THE ROAD SONG TO NEW HEIGHTS, FOLLOWING THE SINGER OUT OF THIS PLANET INTO THE STRATOSPHERE WHERE IT ALL MIGHT MAKE MORE SENSE. WITH BACKUP VOCALS EVOKING SUZANNE VEGA’S “TOM’S DINER” AND LAURIE ANDERSON’S “OH SUPERMAN,” “ROCKET REARVIEW” DEPICTS A TUG OF WAR BETWEEN THE SUBLIME AND THE QUOTIDIAN. THE SONG CONFRONTS THE BEAUTY AND TERROR OF THE UNKNOWN BUT STAYS TETHERED TO PRACTICAL MATTERS: “DO ME A FAVOR—ASK MY NEIGHBOR, GO PICK UP MY SUNDAY PAPER.” IT MIGHT MORE REALISTICALLY BE A CSA SHARE NOWADAYS BUT THE FEELING IS THE SAME, OF WANTING TO BE IN TWO PLACES AT ONCE, AND TO MATTER IN BOTH.

THERE’S ACCEPTANCE OF LOVE’S CHALLENGES (“JANUARY AND JUNE”), AN ELEGIAC CONTEMPLATION OF

THE TUMULT AND SORROW OF SPRING 2020, (“NO SOUND,” DEDICATED TO GEORGE FLOYD AND HIS PARTNER); AND A MEDITATION ON MORTALITY’S FLUID BOUNDARIES (“WALTZING WITH YOUR GHOST”). “BEAUTIFUL SUN” CALLS TO MIND ANOTHER GEORGE, HARRISON—THE NEWLY SOLO BEATLE OF “I’D HAVE YOU ANYTIME” OR “ALL THINGS MUST PASS” EVOKED IN ITS GENTLE TRIBUTE TO THE FRAGILITY OF A FRIEND IN RECOVERY. IT MADE ME THINK OF JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE, A BEAUTIFUL SON AND FELLOW NASHVILLIAN WHO AMELIA PLAYED SHOWS WITH, AND THE STRUGGLES OF SWEET CREATIVE SOULS TRYING TO TOUGH IT OUT IN A HARD WORLD.

“HANDS ARE LIKE FACES,” WRITTEN WITH GUITARIST JOHNNY DUKE IS A SEARCH FOR CONNECTION THROUGH THE VERY ACT OF SONGWRITING, DUKE’S GUITAR LINES BRINGING OUT AN IMPRESSIONISTIC SIDE OF WHITE’S WRITING SHE MIGHT NOT HAVE GOTTEN TO ON HER OWN. THAT’S THE BEAUTY OF CO-WRITING. “I FEEL YOU,” AMELIA SINGS. “DO YOU FEEL ME TOO?”

I TOLD AMELIA THE FIRST PHRASE THAT POPPED IN MY MIND WHEN SHE ASKED ME TO WRITE ABOUT HER NEW ALBUM WAS “SHE’S A FIGHTER.” I’VE SEEN HER OUT THERE FOR YEARS, DOING HER WORK, WORKING THE HUSTLE AS ONE MUST DO. IT’S NOT DEMONS OR OUTSIDE FORCES SHE BATTLES THESE DAYS, AS SHE FEELS COMFORTABLE IN HER RELATIONSHIP, HAPPY IN HER COMMUNITY. IT’S THE GOOD FIGHT SHE FIGHTS, THAT ILLUMINATES THE WORLD AS IT IS, AND LAYS THE STRUGGLE OUT IN A MUSICAL STYLE SHE’S CARVED FOR HERSELF FROM FOLK AND POP AND COUNTRY MUSIC, A STYLE THAT CONTINUES TO EVOLVE AND BECOME MORE INDIVIDUAL ALL THE TIME.

WHAT BECOMES A LEGEND MOST? WHEN DOES MID-CAREER FLIP OVER TO THE LONG GAME? NONE OF US KNOW HOW LONG WE HAVE TO MAKE A COMPLETE ARTISTIC STATEMENT, SO AMELIA WHITE KEEPS DOING IT THE GOOD, HARD, HONEST WAY: ONE LINE, ONE SONG, ONE CAREFULLY-WROUGHT OR — IN THE CASE OF ROCKET REARVIEW —EFFORTLESSLY EXCELLENT RECORD AT A TIME.