[rating=8]
Despite having a fairly successful fifteen-year career, Kim Richey is still virtually unknown to the general public. While she’s sung on albums by Shawn Colvin, Ryan Adams and Mary Chapin Carpenter, as well as writing hits for the likes of Trisha Yearwood and Brookes & Dunn, Richey continues to fly under the collective radar of both country and rock radio. In September, Richey released “Wreck Your Wheels,” an eleven-song set steeped in Americana, road-trip folk and the best of what Nashville country music can lend to less-than-traditional arrangements.
Recorded with her band from 2007’s Chinese Boxes tour, the album was, according to Richey, “[A] spur of the moment decision and one of the most relaxed and fun recording experiences I’ve ever had.” It’s evident that she is more at ease across the board, and this straightforwardness lends Wheels an accessibility for the listener that immediately draws one in. Her voice is in fine form here, with tones of Lucinda Williams and Mary Chapin Carpenter, but with a honeyed smoothness that fills the aural space with warmth and passion. Her band are clearly comfortable with each other, as no one tries to outdo each other– when there is slide guitar, it’s enough to color the song but not overpower. Where a finger-picked guitar complements the melody, it’s audible and clean. The arrangements also vacillate between acoustic starkness and full-band power, which provide a good amount of dynamics, so one does not get bored over the eleven songs.
There are some incredibly strong songs on Wreck Your Wheels, but there are also a few that could have been reworked or discarded before release. The title track is one of the finest examples of contemporary Americana pop/folk in recent memory. Richey plays a very delicate balancing act between a few different genres: 4/4 pop, mid-1990s female alternative and 2000s country radio, but rather than fall victim to any one in particular, she draws on the strengths of each one to create a catchy (in the best sense of the word) song about relationship woes. She is judicious with the outro slide guitar, pulls back on the driving electric guitar line under the verses, and doesn’t overdo it with the drums. This restraint is exactly the opposite of what you’d find on radio right now, and we should all be more grateful for Richey’s control. Rather than be inundated with syrupy lyrics and contrived melodies, “Wreck Your Wheels” hits all the right bases and does what any song of its ilk does best– make the listener turn inward for a good dose of introspection.
Other highlights of the album include the gorgeous ballad “99 Floors” and the sensually dark “When the Circus Comes to Town.” “99 Floors” is a beautiful take on alienation and the search for love amongst life’s turmoil. There is nothing trite about the lyrics, despite the subject matter. The line, “Hold me, I feel like I’m blowing away… lay down beside me and tell me you’ll stay for a little bit” is imploring without being cloying, and her delivery conveys just the right emotional distance and proximity juxtaposition. “Circus” starts with a great descending acoustic guitar line against a deep 1-2 drum hit. In the second verse, Richey is joined with a low male voice (Matthew Ryan) mirroring her melody, evoking Greg Brown’s gorgeous bass vocals. It sounds like a cross between Bonnie Raitt and something from Anais Mitchell’s excellent “Hadestown” folk opera. Richey doesn’t overpower the song, but brings a slinky and confident vocal that gives great color and richness to the track.
There are a few examples of filler tracks on Wheels, such as “Back to You” and “Once in Your Life” (unfortunately sequenced back-to-back). “Life” is full of cliches, without any subtlety or nuance to turn them away from staleness. “Back to You” would work excellently at half the running time, but at 5:10, it drags on with the less-than-inspiration chorus line of “I keep coming, coming, keep coming back to you.” Richey could have made Wheels considerably stronger by having a heavier editing hand. She admits that it was a spur of the moment decision to record the album, and hopefully when she follows up with her next project she will take some time to develop and perfect her weaker tracks. However, the better songs of Wheels greatly overpower these missteps, and we’re left again with another great addition to the Kim Richey discography, and yet another frustrating example of the disparity between Richey’s talent and widespread appeal.
