The road to this spellbinding debut release by Brandy Clark may
have been long but not a minute of life experience, observation and absorption
of influence has been wasted as 12 STORIES captures the very essence of what
country music is all about. From her raising in quintessential small town USA,
also known as Morton, WA (pop 900) to the recent success as a hit Nashville
songwriter, Brandy has honed a talent to analyse, articulate and convey the
truth in an uncomplicated song style not far from the proverbial ‘three chords’.
The re-assuring down to earth vocal delivery cements these attributes to package
an anthology of real life pain, anguish, trepidation, temptation and regret with
a small dose of black humour to show a glint of light.
With the encouragement of Marty Stuart and under the guidance of
Dave Brainard (Jerrod Neimann), Brandy has produced a stunning collection of 12
masterpieces that easily rivals the highly marketed output from her pure song writing
role. At a time when modern country’s respect to the past is in vogue, the
moment for recognition may be upon Brandy and she certainly has a product which
tips its hat to Haggard, Lynn, Wynnette and Jones. The evidence laid out in the
content of 12 STORIES suggests that a potential for sustained longevity will
counteract any industry fickleness as found in the careers of those Wine, Women
and Song luminaries – Gretchen Peters, Matraca Berg and Suzy Bogguss.
The initial focal point of the record has been the upbeat,
humorous yet slightly dark ditty ‘Stripes’
which takes a left field view of country
music’s obsession with cheating and revenge. The wit and irony of the lyrics
will leave their mark with a bass fused beat not too dissimilar to Carrie Underwood’s
‘Before He Cheats’. Brandy has been
the co-architect for some of the recent Kacey Musgraves material and album
opener ‘Pray to Jesus’ could easily
have found a home elsewhere as this intuitive observation of folk hedging their bets between religion and
the lottery unveils a deep perception amidst a memorable melody.
While all 12 accounts are written from a female perspective,
the mood swings from a touch of sympathy for the downtrodden subject of ‘Get High’ experimenting with different
states of mind to a damnation of those featuring in ‘Illegitimate Children’. This waltz-like tune graphically depicting
a cross town scene is definitely a joint leader in this coalition of classics
sharing top billing with the adorable tale of extra marital anticipation ‘What’ll Keep Me Out of Heaven’.
Closely following this pair of standout tracks is the tear
jerking late night smoky ballad ‘In Some
Corner’ using a combo of pedal steel and piano to spill the beans of regret
with the immortal line ‘there’s a jukebox playing Jones’ painting the perfect
image of self-reflecting solitude. While the highs are many, the only lows
exist in the sad content of numbers such as the solutions to life’s problems in
‘Take a Little Pill’ and the realities
and decisions as depicted in ‘Hungover’.
The stories that Brandy has wonderfully collated over the
years have almost singularly inspired her song writing and the spectrum of
emotion continues to fluctuate from the defiant optimism of ‘Hold My Hand’ to the sad realisation of ‘The Day She Got Divorced’. The profound
impact of this record is relentless even as we head to its closure with
the tender heartbreaking flawed-father song ‘Just Like Him’. The use of fiddle on this track is appropriate as is
the distribution of sounds on many other tracks such as the banjo gracing the feisty
‘Crazy Woman’ earlier on the album
where the recognition of female flaws is upended by the cutting finale of being
‘made by crazy men’. In much the same way ‘Stand
by Your Man’ has that twisting subtle stab of ‘after all he’s just a man’.
12 STORIES is how a country record should be made and Brandy
Clark has eclipsed her compatriots Ashley Monroe and Kacey Musgraves in
delivering a far more thorough and consistent release that bridges the
generation gap as well as tackling the issues of reality from a multitude of
angles. After its October 22 release, it will take a truly exceptional album in
the final ten weeks of the year to knock 12 STORIES off the number one spot.
Check out Brandy on Reverbnation
