Honey From the Tombs
Label: Arts & Crafts
Length: LP
Media: CD
Format: Album
WorkNameSort: Honey From the Tombs
Those who hold dear the two adventurous full-lengths from Canada’s Stars might have envisioned an idealized prototype of what member Amy Millan’s solo debut should sound like. But Honey From the Tombs isn’t cloaked in Stars’ sparkling, electronically enhanced pop; it is instead Millan’s blindsiding swan dive into country music, complete with liquor-fueled breakup woes (‘He Brings Out the Whiskey in Meâ?�) and acoustic tumbles that beg to be shared fireside (‘Ruby IIâ?�). Millan’s peers in Stars and the plentiful Broken Social Scene cast assist her, but the mark of Toronto bluegrass band Crazy Strings is abundantly apparent. Most of Honey was conceived before 2000, and its polished country surface contributes to a sameness that’s thrown off by five or six distinctly lustrous experiments. ‘Wayward and Parliamentâ?� is one such beaut; its loose, spacious drum work backing Millan’s warming, generously multitracked delivery hints at, well, a palatable idealized prototype.
This article appears in Aug 23-29, 2006.