With the cultured edge of a seasoned operator, Dar Williams gracefully slips back into the world of newly recorded music via an album of justifiable quality. From a position of stately grandeur, a veteran status is accrued from a raft of album releases and assorted other creative literary projects since first bursting onto the Boston folk scene in the mid-90s. The ten tracks assembled under the cooperative title I'LL MEET YOU HERE elegantly glide across the groove with a silky texture. Likeminded performers such as Mary Chapin Carpenter and Beth Nielsen Chapman may attract larger numbers when venturing overseas originating from a stint in the mainstream but the music and style of Dar Williams can be placed on a similar pedestal when courting comparisons.
Like many albums seeing the light in 2021, a period in the can arose as strategic alterations ran amok amongst music recorded in the winter of 19/20. So a five year wait for this her twelfth recording was extended by another spin around the sun. However, it is absolutely a case of worth the wait when hitting the stores and mishmash of outlets hawking music in whatever form these days.
Themes from this singer-songwriter bounce around without really settling on a relatable thread. In any case such is the lyrical refinement on display you can get as much out of following an independently curated narrative dressed in an exquisitely spiced language than seeking the eternal link.
The first peak of many on the album surfaces in the third track where 'Let the Wind Blow' explodes with a rising momentum to draw a smiling satisfaction from letting it hold your attention. A couple of tracks later the more passive 'Little Town' resonates strongly before we hop and skip a couple more until landing on the album's summit in the shape of the supreme 'Today and Every Day'. Truth behold you can make an equal case for any of the tremendous ten to flagship the release. None more so than the moving piano-led closer 'You're Aging Well'.
Throughout the experience served up by Dar Williams, a calm and warm reassurance softly holds sway in an optimal production field. Whether majoring on strings and keys or the odd occasion a waft of brass breezes in, each song on I'LL MEET YOU HERE is a mini prototype of a how to deal a record rich in smooth sophistication and ripened from a classy substance. A record definitely for those relaxing moments when you want the music to take the helm.
