GREAT voice - shame about the Nashville schmaltz. A top-heavy production drags this album down, as do some of the songs.
Write My Ticket is a particular horror, with its cheese-laded refrain of "I got to get back in the arms of the man who loves me." Love Made A U-Turn, a sort of country funk song, is much better and shows some of Merritt's early promise.
Comparisons have been made with Lucinda Williams, but only on Plainest Thing does Merritt come close to the smouldering intensity of Lucinda's recent work. A return to uncluttered, rootsy basics would be welcome.
Updated: 08:34 Thursday, October 07, 2004
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