Amy Speace first came to my attention when she played a set
at last year’s Maverick Festival. The favourable impression left from that
appearance led to downloading her most recent album at the time LAND LIKE A
BIRD which confirmed what a high quality singer-songwriter Amy is. Just under
twelve months on from that UK visit, which also included a slot supporting
Alejandro Escovedo around the country, Amy has announced the next phase of her
career with a brand new album and hopefully some dates later in the year. In
much the same vein as her previous material, HOW TO SLEEP IN A STORMY BOAT showcases
Amy’s extraordinary talent to write, perform and sing beautiful songs in a
style that straddles country, folk and all points in between on the Americana
spectrum.
A classical trait from Amy’s earlier theatrical career can
be found in her vocal style as well as the folk influence that brought the
subsequent and fruitful attention of the genre’s legendary singer, Judy
Collins. Yet Amy has gradually funnelled her sound via the alt-country channels
to Nashville and further west to the fertile singer-songwriter lands of Texas
and Oklahoma. This has led her to the Music City recording studio of Neilson
Hubbard for the album’s production as well as significant contributions from
acclaimed Americana performers John Fullbright and Mary Gauthier.
In an almost systematic streak of eleven four-minute songs,
Amy uses the album to rehabilitate a series of her recent personal afflictions
that many people also have to deal with but often singer-songwriters use as a
source of inspirational genius. Amy is also keen to draw on the writings of the
Bard, another hark back to her Shakespearean background. For the musical
accompaniment to her lyrical offerings, Amy elects to combine the conventional roots
instruments with a more classical feel from cello, violin and piano to give
many of the songs a fuller sound.
The three standout tracks appear early in the album but this
need not detract from soaking up the gentle atmosphere of the record’s full 42 minute length. The fantastic duet with
John Fullbright heads this trio with a metaphorical tale of anthropomorphism
titled ‘The Sea and the Shore’.
Ultimately the sturdiness and reliability of the shore outlasts the
restlessness and inconsistency of the sea to send a message of which approach
reaps greater rewards. The rousing opener ‘The
Fortunate Ones’ inspired by the
Agincourt speech of Henry V is perhaps the most country sounding track and is very
reminiscent of Mary Chapin Carpenter at her finest. The title track ‘How to Sleep in a Stormy Boat’ sees Amy
at her best using words to come to terms with her issues and understanding
where the answers are. All this is perfectly delivered by Amy’s graceful vocals
and a semi orchestral sound.
Of the rest, the elegant ‘In
Salida’ is an amazing piece of song writing and a re-collective tale that manages
to hold its structure throughout, while ‘Bring
Me Back My Heart’ is one of Amy’s more tender compositions. Some lovely
guitar work accompanies the soulful ‘Hunter
Moon’ and ‘Left Me Hanging’
contains some haunting pedal steel as well as a writing and vocal contribution
from Mary Gauthier. ‘Lullabye Under the
Willow’ is a song that veers very much towards a traditional folk style.
While not matching the heights of the album’s earlier
tracks, the closing trio of ‘Perfume’, ‘Feathers
and Wishbones’ and ’Hesitate’ all
glide along elegantly and allow the very fine vocal qualities of Amy to
flourish. In essence the album melts away in a satisfying manner to round off
what could be considered her finest effort to date.