ALBUM REVIEW: Lizz Wright Fully Inhabits the Songs of ‘Shadow’

On her new album, Shadow, Lizz Wright creates a dazzling soundscape with her smooth, sultry vocals as she ranges from jazz and blues to folk and soul. Shadow contains five original songs as well as her interpretations of songs she frequently performs.

The propulsive “Your Love,” fueled by Meshell Ndegeocello’s thumping bass, features cascading harp notes that shimmer with hope. The spaciousness of the song allows the singer to move through grief and loss from the somnolent period of mourning to the joyous dancing that celebrates the loved one’s life (“all day I walk around singing”). The psalm-like “Root of Mercy” features Wright’s silvery vocals floating over layers of gently flowing instrumentation.

On the Candi Staton-penned “Sweet Feeling,” Wright delivers a straight-to-the-bone soul blues replete with her powerful moaning vocals, crunchy Muscle Shoals guitar, and bright B-3 strains. The languorous “This Way” illustrates Wright’s gift for allowing a song to guide her wherever it leads. She takes her time and lets the lyrics and glistening piano notes wash over the listener.

Lizz Wright (photo by Hollis King)

Dazzling B-3 phrases, swelling strings, and Wright’s tender vocals create an atmospheric version of “I Made a Lover’s Prayer,” written by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, while on “Circling,” guitar arpeggios and swirling drums mimic the feelings of anticipation and promise that accompany new love. The album closes with a slowly unfolding version of Sandy Denny’s “Who Knows Where the Time Goes.” Wright’s version poignantly captures the often-protracted way we move through time.

On Shadow, Wright dwells in her songs, turning notes and phrases over and over and creating sonic spaces that invite listeners to enter the songs, too, and travel with her on her musical journey.

Lizz Wright’s Shadow is out April 12 on Blues & Greens Records.