Holly Williams - Here With Me (11 tracks) +Album Reviews

Hank Sr.'s granddaughter cuts a superb country and pop album

hyperbolium | Earth, USA | 06/16/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Williams' gold-plated lineage (her father is Hank Williams Jr., her grandfather was Hank Williams) is in many ways misleading rather than informative. Though she's the product of two generations of country music royalty (and a broken home), her songs are modern in style and her lyrics are mostly untouched by self-destructive rebelliousness. Unless, that is, you count her charting a mainstream musical course as rebelling against the family business. The Williams' troubles passed from Sr. to Jr. to III, but in changing gender (and mother, Hank III is a half-brother), the darkest demons seem to have lost their grip on the steering wheel.

That's the long-way around to saying that you shouldn't expect a female version of the rowdy Williams sound or style here, though you will get a helping of the family's breed of talent. Williams' 2004 major label debut, The Ones We Never Knew, was a moody singer-songwriter album that lived in the contemporary folk and adult pop world of Shawn Colvin, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Jewel. After the album stiffed (and its single "Sometimes" failed to crack the charts), Williams was dropped by her label. A car accident and several years further along, she's back with a new album for Mercury Nashville that has a stronger country flavor.

The opening "He's Making a Fool Out of You" is an original slow waltz that would be a good fit for Lee Ann Womack, and Williams' duet with Chris Janson, the sweetly themed "A Love I Think Will Last," is an upbeat, two-step shuffle. Williams' hasn't abandoned the sophisticated contemporary pop sounds of her debut, she's simply mixed things up a bit. There are songs of coping, faith, troubled relationships, emotional growth and unbridled love. There are biographical lyrics about Williams' mother and father, and a quick name-check of her grandfather, but they're more like waypoints than destinations.

Williams' voice fits smoothly into both the highly produced tracks and the twangier arrangements. She's a powerful singer, emoting forcefully when unburdening herself and choking up when delivering the romantic doormat's heartbreaking simile "like a leaf in mid-October I still change for you." She favors Rosanne Cash a bit on the country tracks. The album closes with a solid cover of Neil Young's "Birds," sung slower and shorn of the backing choir of After the Gold Rush. It's a nice showcase for the expressiveness of Williams' voice, and though it's not as plaintively bereaved as Young's original, it's no doubt a showstopper on stage.

Those who felt Williams' debut hewed too much to one tempo or sound will like the breadth in her songwriting and the new opportunities this provides for her stellar voice. This isn't your father (or grandfather's) country album. In fact, it's as much a contemporary pop album as it is modern country. But as on her previous album, Williams shows herself to be a talented artist whose songs are dark but not damaged, and whose music doesn't stand in anyone's shadow. Now, Mercury Nashville just needs to figure out whether to break her on country or pop radio. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]"

This one can't touch her first album.

Doctor Satan | Kentucky United States | 06/23/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I read she was dropped by the label that produced her first album. So that label has no concept of true talent as 'The Ones We Never Knew' is one of the best songwriter albums ever created. Unfortunately on this album it seems she feels obligated to produce country music which is really sad because she was so great as just a songwriter without the country influence. You can still get a great taste of the non country music with the tracks 'Alone' and 'Birds'. Her upbeat tracks 'Let Her Go' and 'Keep The Change' are catchy. The rest is heavy with country influence which I found both detracting and mundane after having her first album as a reference point. Hopefully she will recognize her error and return to making great five star albums."

Lyrics Straight from the Heart

Mr. Richard D. Coreno | Berea, Ohio USA | 07/28/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In the increasingly homogenized universe of popular music, it takes a good dose of heartfelt lyrics that are sung with special conviction to show again the power from the increasingly lost art of storytelling. Holly Williams carves her niche as a singer/songwriter - she writes or co-writes eight of the 11 tracks - on this sophomore effort and her first album for Universal Music Group Nashville: Mercury Nashville Records.

And it's from the deepest depths of despair on "Without Jesus Here With Me" - chronicling a March 2006 car crash that nearly killed Williams and her sister - that delivers incredible textures on such a shattered canvas: My sister fought/My daddy cried/My mama begged him for our lives/And I don't know how I would breathe/Without Jesus here with me. But reflection on that tragic day brings incredible honesty to the present: I still don't talk to him much/But I don't know where I would be/Without Jesus here with me/No there ain't no tellin' where I'd be/Without Jesus here with me.

The daughter of Hank Williams, Jr. - and half-sister of alt-country singer Hank Williams III - also tackles being raised in a broken home on the single "Mama" (You could have been bitter/You could have hated him) through lyrics which meticulously bring out such private emotions. That same soul searching is also found on the other single "Keep the Change" (I'm sitting around singing sad, sad songs/And it ain't, ain't getting me nowhere).

"Let Her Go" bounds forward with particular vibrancy, while the studio turns into a small stage on a very late Saturday night in a bar half-filled with desperate souls as Williams gets down to basics - guitar/vocal - on "Three Days in Bed" and piano/vocal for Neil Young's "Birds." A softer number - "Gone with the Morning Sun" - and a duet with Chris Janson, "A Love I Think Will Last" - expertly juxtaposes the roller coaster that love brings to a life, but each leave room for the listener to add some personal details into the mix.

Holly Williams proves why a premium should still be placed on crafting words that won't be lost in production gimmicks that replaces substance for style.

"

Williams Shows Depth with "Here with Me"

T. Yap | Sydney, NSW, Australia | 06/18/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Prime Cuts: Without Jesus Here with Me, He's Making a Fool Out of You, A Love That Will Last

Though she's only 28 years-old, Williams writes as though she has been through the mill of life a few times over. Her seasoned maturity is most piquant in the way she nuances life's shadows of hurts, joys and disappointments. There's a sense of inherent melancholy that sententiously connects her with those who have had been similarly bruised by life. And with such an emotionally textured style, Williams is not guilty of nepotism. For those unacquainted, Williams is the scion of the legendary Williams family with Hank Williams Sr as her granddad, Hank Jr as her dad and Hank III as her half-brother. But with her sophomore CD "Here With Me," Williams has comfortably settled into her style of country-folk with a dose of contemporary country reminiscing of Mary Chapin Carpenter in her quieter moments and Miranda Lambert at her feistier best. Also this time around, Williams has made a slight concession towards country radio when she has expanded her portfolio by including songs written by others. Other than 8 songs coming from her own pen (some of whom are co-writes) she has enlisted the help of Nashville's hottest scribes including Sarah Baxton, Luke Laird, Hilary Lindsey, Chuck Jones and even a cover of Neil Young.

Williams gets personally with a few autobiographical entries: "Mama" gives us an insider's view on her upbringing. "Mama" is a touching tribute from Williams to her mother. But don't expect some Hallmark sugar-coated gibberish, here Williams tells it like it is--the horrendous experiences her mother had to go through in the light of their broken home. However, instead of demonizing their dad like most divorced mothers do, Williams' mom simply tells her children to love their dad the way he was. This is a priceless gift a parent can ever give to his/her children. While "Let Her Go," a co-write between Williams and Marcus Hummon, has Williams addressing her dad this time round. This time it's a sympathetic heartfelt plea to an over-protective dad to let her "touch the universe" on her own. And Williams gets personal with her heavenly Father with "Without Jesus Here with Me." Written after a fatal car accident, "Without Jesus Here With Me" has Williams offering her gratitude to Jesus for his grace though she candidly admits that she "doesn't talk to Him that much."

Familial relationships aside, she does deal with romance on the extremely country two-stepper "A Love I Think will Last." Sounding a little like Carlene Carter, here Williams indulges in a rare moment where she actually celebrates the joys of love found (a rare fleet considering that most of the songs here are sad). "Alone" brings Williams back to familiar territory of suicidal morose in a Mary Chapin Carpenter style where she's backed mainly by a piano. Also, quite in keeping with her usual rancour is the piano and string laden "He's Making A Fool Out of You." She does make a few concessions to radio starting with lead single "Keep the Change." Written by hit team Luke Laird and Hilary Lindsey, "Keep the Change" is a busy guitar-driven pop-rock number that ultimately panders due to its lack of a strong melody. While her cover of Neil Young's "Birds" sounds pretty pedantic and tiresome.

On the whole, "Here with Me" is a step of improvement vis-a-vis her debut CD. Here Williams is more at home with herself. Further, she tackles a better range of songs both lyrically and style-wise. Nevertheless, what makes "Here with Me" such a vita release is that Williams gets beyond the skin of relationships. She delves into the marrow and bones of what makes humans tick. And she presents them in ways so alluringly, so therapeutically, and so convincingly. When she sings it's almost she's right here with us.

"

A Contempory Country Effort from Hank's Granddaughter

R. Angeloni | Northern California, USA | 08/04/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As the granddaughter of Hank Williams and the daughter of Hank Williams II, Holly Williams has lots of talented blood traveling through her veins. Knowing her lineage, it's hard to listen to "Here With Me" without wanting and wishing for more.

That's not to say I didn't like "Here With Me." Clearly I did, as I gave it four stars. It's just that you almost expect her to push the envelope a bit more, break some new ground, and not hit on the same standard county music topics we've heard since Grandpa Hank was scoring No. 1 hits by the handful.

"Here With Me" is a nice hybrid of country and pop. The music is very appealing. Williams has a nice strong voice and she clearly knows how to convey a song. Her voice especially shines in songs like "I Hold On," and "Keep the Chase." She shows additional flexibility with the poignant "Without Jesus Here With Me" and even displays a sweet side with her duet with Chris Janson, "A Love I Think Will Last."

Williams has clearly proven she has the chops to be a top-notch performer, and does not have to rely on her last name to get by. That being said, "Here With Me" left me wanting to see her do more, and, with the CD clocking in at only 36 minutes, left me wanting to hear more.

"

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