Search - Lui Collins :: Made in New England

Like a warm kitchen in a New England winter

David A. Bede | Singapore | 11/13/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The aptly titled "Made in New England" is Lui Collins' first album and, except for the out-of-print "Moondancer," her best. I bought it unheard, on a tip from a friend in the know back when I was a homesick New Englander at school in the Midwest. And listening to it truly felt like going home! For about a month, I played it for anyone who would listen and then some. A dozen or so years later, not a note of it has aged.



The rustic style lives up to the title throughout the album. You can almost picture Lui and her guitar and banjo right there by the fire with snow falling outside (a scene I have since been lucky enough to experience in concert three times). Most of the songs are love songs of one variety or another. "The Mushy One" is indeed mushy, but sweet. "You Are the Songbird" and "Everything's Fine Right Now" are similarly joyous. If it's sad love songs you prefer, "The Endless Mile" is one of the very best of those. "Love is Losin' Hold," "Distance," and "Eiderdown Quilt" are also wonderfully articulate looks at love, loss, and the difficulty of communicating with those closest to us.



But it's not all about love. "Jealous Lover," the only fast song on the album, is a welcome break from the ballads. Collins' treatment of the traditional "Silkie" is perfect, and a good introduction to her fondness for songs about the ocean. "I'll Know the Time" explores longings and reservations about motherhood - long before "biological clock" became a household term. Last but perhaps best, "Born and Bred" and "Vermont is a Fire in the Autumn" are a couple of gorgeous odes to New England. (The latter is sung by its writer, Bill Lauf, as Collins apparently didn't think she could sing it as beautifully as he could. She may have been right about that.)



This is as rustic as New England-style music gets, and it'll take you there no matter where you are. All of Lui Collins' albums are terrific, but this is the best place to start."