Dar Williams
Promised Land
Razor & Tie Entertainment
Release Date: Sept. 9, 2008
B+
For over three years, loyal fans of folk princess Dar Williams have been eagerly anticipating the release of her next studio album. It's time to soak up the teardrops on your proverbial guitars, because the wait is over.
With a new producer and a team of musicians by her side, Promised Land is both engaging and satisfying, bringing to mind a great number of contemporary political and social issues along with provocative meditations of life, love and human relationships.
Tracks such as "It's Alright," "The Tide Falls Away," and the Fountains of Wayne cover "Troubled Times," profess the sentiments of healing, coping and ultimately making peace with the past.
"Troubled Times" stands out in particular, in which Williams effortlessly creates her own plucky tell-all.
"Maybe someday soon/It'll all come out/How you dream about each other sometimes/With the memory of how you once gave up/But you made it through the troubled times," sings Williams.
Closing the album is the hopeful "Summerday," serving as a love letter to both children and the future, spreading the sentiment that we'll soon "live in summerday."
Promised Land features a fair balance between mellow ballads and morose lyrics, a combination exemplified in "Book of Love." The track is a meditation on failed relationships across one's life and how each affects a person in a different way.
"I had all the characters/The fool, the friend, the wise/And no matter what the ending is, the story of my life is the book of love," sings Williams.
With the exception of a few burdensome tracks ("Go to the Woods," and "Holly Tree," for example), there's not much to nitpick with. Fans of the Gin Blossoms, Williams, or good old-fashioned folk rock will all find solace and warm musical shelter in Promised Land.
