If Lucinda Williams and Tom Waits had a baby girl, and she came out singing, she might sound a little like Gloria Deluxe. Equal parts ballsy blues and pretty country, Hooker isnt an easy record, but who wants easy?
Some of these songs belong in a French cabaret, a few could pass in a Southern blues bar, and one or two might even sneak into some chic Manhattan hipster club. While this lends a slightly schizophrenic quality to the album, the songs are unified by an uncomfortable darkness.
The smart, self-aware lyrics of each song shudder with tension, confused by the needs of the body and the desire for something beyond the body, something really pure. Now, how can I live without whiskey and money when I know that forever is such a long time, Cynthia Hopkins sings in flattened, almost accidental vocals.
These are not careful words in a careful voice. She seems to be saying the things she needs to say, things she doesnt especially like admitting out loud. These songs are a little embarrassed of their own longing. Based on Dorothy Allison essays as well as broken hearts and bottles, they ask questions they cant answer.
In Gloria Deluxe, youll find the required amount of whiskey-induced country heartache, but youll find it brilliantly confused. Country gets transformed by spoken word segments, electric guitars, artful horns and strings, the occasional saw, odd rhythms, and mournful accordion parts.
Somebody will describe this album as postmodern, but it wont be me. I just think its lovely.
