Amy LaVere and Will Sexton – “Hallelujah, I’m a Dreamer”

There shouldn’t be rules in rock and roll, who are we saving our broken hearts for?

                                “Last Rock n’ Roll Boy To Dance” — Amy LaVere

Some of my favorite vocalists have worked and recorded in duo settings, e.g., Peggy Lee and Dave Barbour (guitar), Lee Wiley and Bobby Hackett (trumpet) and Sheila Jordan and Harvie S (bass), that allow the vocals and the songs to be front and center while the accompanist has nowhere to hide, certainly time to fish or cut bait. And, just as significantly, the strength, or weaknesses, of the songs become obvious on even a casual listening.

To this end, three albums of considerable note and musical diversity have just been released that warrant your listening pleasure.

First up is Amy LaVere and Will Sexton’s wonderful Hallelujah, I’m a Dreamer . The reason I begin with jazz singing is that while Ms. LaVere has always rolled and rocked, in this duo setting (save for a brief piano riff, I think), she swings, both vocally and on the acoustic bass. And swinging is no easy task, just ask all those who don’t, or can’t. And Mr. Sexton on all manner of acoustic guitar, slides easily from Spanish to to blues to the Everly Brothers, while Amy keeps the rhythm going steady, both tight and loose, by weaving subtle jazz lines throughout. To my ears, even though it is solidly in the Americana vein, its jazz underpinnings and phrasings cannot be denied.

This is also an intimate record where you feel you are in the room with them. In large part that is due to the fact the album’s eleven songs were recorded live in the Memphis studio during a couple of days in January following months together touring. So, it’s not just a one-off, any kinks had already been worked out, and their interplay has become easy and familiar. The album comes on the heels of two extraordinary records, Motel Mirrors (with John Paul Keith) and Runaway’s Diary during the past two years. 

LaVere has recorded about half these songs before, in band settings. But, with the arrangements replaced by Sexton’s all manner of guitar playing, the songs take on more nuanced, often darker, often more playful, sometimes both at once, than before. Her small-ish, slightly breathy vocals can be a mishevious ingenue one moment and femme fatale the next. It is an intiguing mix.

Easily, my favorite is a stretched out, luxurious “Last Rock and Roll Boy to Dance” that was on Runaway’s Diary. It mines the undercurrents of desire. It’s like a Robert Mitchum noir movie sprinkled with surrealistic splashes of longing: “I clearly see that he’s a thief/ But he can take what he likes/Cause he’s giving me some feeling/That’s worth anything he could be stealing/There shouldn’t be rules in rock and roll/And who/what are we saving our broken hearts for?” You can see Jane Greer walking towards you on that beach before the storm blows through the Mexican screen door as she throws Mitchum a towel. All the while Sexton’s guitar entices and teases, ultimately LaVere’s vocalizing tempts you into that last seduction. 

One of the songs not recorded before is an extremely tasty re-working of an early Leonard Cohen song, “Tonight Will Be Fine,” with some added lyrics, that I cannot help but think, like the ablum’s last song, “Tennesssee Valentine,” is for/about the newlyweds themselves. And between them is “Lesson” which features Sexton on lead vocal. Having not heard him sing lead before, it is a very nice touch, with a beat much like Will Kimbrough’s “Mud Bottom.”

So far as I can find, the album is only in an MP3 version at the usual online sources at present, but as an MP3, FLAC and CD on her label’s website and iTunes.

And even though I am adverse to MP3s, mine sounds fantastic. So, do not be put off by that. But is worth the bit of extra effort to get it directly from Archer Records. And while you are there, pick up Runaway’s Diary and Motel Mirrors on vinyl. They are fantastic. Not to slight her other five albums, but these are where you should start if you are unfamilar.

LaVere, both  did a killer week in Austin at SXSW, and has a full schedule for the next 5 weeks before heading to Europe. I cannot more highly reccomend this album and seeing her live.