Amelia White - Home Sweet Hotel

by Lisa Torem

published: 21 / 2 / 2016

Label: White Wolf Records
Format: CD

Fine latest album from Nashville-based singer-sosngwriter Amelia White, which warmly depicts life on the road

Review

“I’m like a riddle riding in the wind/Singing my songs for strangers in every town I’m in,” Amelia White croons on the theme song, ‘Home Sweet Hotel’, her voice infused with a spoonful of anguish and a dash of fascination. “It can be glamorous one day and down-right humiliating the next,” she reveals on her press release and we experience the dirt roads, cheap take out and flighty fans in every melody as this dichotomy hovers through the East-Nashville songwriter’s new album, ‘Home Sweet Home,’ which is a vibrant follow-up to critically acclaimed ‘Old Postcard’ and on which she co-wrote or wrote every song. “Wishing I could hate you,” she laments on the first track, ‘Dangerous Angel’, where angst and allure immediately battle for space. Then ‘Love Cures’ bristles slightly with optimism, albeit the playing field still holds mines. “Love’s sure to bring change/Change stops the bullets from flying around.” ‘Leaving in My Blood’ is a glorious nod to Jimmy Webb, Joni Mitchell or Glen Campbell fare. White’s voice aches yet flourishes as she inhales lavender across the Californian landscape, embracing her freedom whilst longing for companionship. “I’ve got leaving in my blood/Even though you’re on my mind,” she sings, struggling for a way to strike a balance. Beautifully enhanced by strings, ‘Road Not Taken’ is destined to be a different kind of classic. “The kiss not given/He’ll never taste/Was he too early?/She too late?” White sings tenderly, questioning a doomed affair and concluding: “Just a memory/Nothing more.” ‘Rainbow Over The East-Side’ is haunting as White blurs urban outsiderness with deep poetic imagery. The ebb and flow of loneliness versus romantic discovery looms large as White’s range soars. A completely different side of White emerges with ‘Dogs Bark,’ which, with its Lou Reed-like spoken word appeal and curious swirl of harmonies, sets synapses crackling. Tender ballad, ‘Melissa’, follows before the doo-wop twists of ‘Right Back to My Arms’ shows off White’s vocal versatility. Thankfully the pace diminishes on ‘Six Feet Under’ so one may breathe in another bittersweet heirloom. Although White’s tear-stained vocals are plaintive enough to stand on their own, the album is enriched by a group of sensitive players: producer Marco Giovino, multi-instrumentalist Sergio Webb, guitarist Stuart Mathis, bassist Ron Eoff, keyboardist Paul Gordon and vocalist Julie Christensen.

Track Listing:-

1 Dangerous Angel
2 Home Sweet Hotel
3 Love Cures
4 Leaving in My Blood
5 Road Not Taken
6 Rainbow over the East-Side
7 Dogs Bark
8 Melissa
9 Right Back to My Arms
10 Six Feet Down