Lucinda Williams recently announced that her 11th studio album, titled The Ghosts of Highway 20, will drop on February 5th. Williams has been reasonably prolific, releasing an album about every other year since 2001’s Essence. That’s after taking 18 years to release her first four records.
I’ve wanted to do another song-by-song album review on the blog, and I think the new Williams album might be just the ticket.
The deluxe edition of Lucinda William’s 2001 album, Blessed, was accompanied by a companion CD called The Kitchen Tapes. It features the same 12 songs, in the same order, but recorded as demos by Williams sitting in her kitchen with a guitar and a tape recorder.
Some of those songs ended up with similar acoustic treatments on the final album, but others (like today’s SOTD) became hard-edged rockers, highlighted by excellent supporting guitar work by Elvis Costello.
The rise of iTunes and the MP3 as the cheapest and easiest way to purchase music led to an increase in bonus material paired with physical CDs.
It might be expanded liner notes, including artwork or photos not otherwise available. A DVD of live performances of the album’s songs. A dorm room-ready wall poster. That sort of thing.
Meet Me In Montauk 