#2: Sam Phillips - 'A Boot and a Shoe'

I’m not really what you would call a lyric guy. That is, I don’t normally notice lyrics first and foremost in the music I listen to (hence, it’s easy to forgive the Kings Of Leon for writing some pretty bad lyrics). But every now and then, the language of certain albums hits me like a lightning bolt. A few years ago, Richard Buckner had this effect on me (his excellent new album Dents & Shells is an honorable mention this year). When Sam Phillips recorded her first album for Nonesuch Records, it had a similar effect. I was already a fan of her work, but nothing prepared me for the spare and gut-wrenching performances on Fan Dance. The sound of that album redefined her sound completely and set her on a new course that will hopefully keep her recording for a long time to come.

The follow-up, A Boot and a Shoe, was released earlier this year, and not much has changed since Fan Dance except that her lyrics continue to explore new depths, and she sounds entirely comfortable in her newer musical skin. Fan Dance was in love with rhythm, and A Boot continues this love affair, with contributions from no less than three drummers. Her guitar playing has had a huge influence on both her recent songwriting and these records, and she plays the instrument as a direct extension of herself. But, man, those lyrics. It’s always dangerous to read too much of the artist into the art, but it’s also hard to separate the lyrics from Phillips’ recent divorce from her longtime husband T-Bone Burnett (who still serves as her producer here). When Leslie Phillips left the Christian music scene over a decade ago and re-imagined herself as Sam Phillips, Burnett was by her side every step of the way. He has been the guiding hand in every evolution of her career. So I don’t think it’s too much of a leap to see the influence of their separation on these songs. They are beautiful, heartbreaking, hopeful and most importantly honest.

Phillips’ current musical approach decidedly favors late nights and dark rooms, but it is the perfect framing device for her poetry. That’s not a word I readily attach to music generally, but I think it applies here. A Boot and a Shoe is in many ways Fan Dance Part II, but at the same time, it shows continued growth – musically and lyrically - for an artist who has seemingly peaked many times, only to emerge again as a better, stronger and more fascinating artist than before.