I’ve got run over by my own parade
I’ve suffocated in the beds I’ve made
I’ve cut my feet on all the glass that I break
Still trying to find a way
To get what’s broken
To un-break
The psychedelics are even more evident in the cerebral “Sticks And Stones” wherein the singer tells someone they can take her place as they’d probably do it better anyway, an echo of the sentiments in “Over You.” Pulp’s Richard Hawley is co-composer of three numbers, including the slow and beautiful “Weary,” where Presley tells a lover he’s free to move on without regrets. “How Do You Fly This Plane?” is a metaphorical title about a lyricist seeking answers to unanswerable questions. The set concludes with one of the more traditionally set numbers, Presley/Hawley’s Nashville-flavored love song “Storm& Grace.” For the finale, the singer is “blown away” by her lover’s storm and grace, asking only that he put on the brakes and slow down a bit.
Storm & Grace is soulful on several levels—the style of the vocals, Burnett’s musical arrangements, and the depth of the material. While every song deals with surviving pain of one kind or another, the tone is typically one of reconciliation, even if all the victories aren’t easily won. For example, “Forgiving,” co-written with Steve Booker, asks for the secrets of forgiveness as that’s hard to do. But these very secrets are scattered throughout the songs in which Presley waves goodbye to the past, which is full of unworthy lovers and glaring flaws within herself.
So Storm & Grace isn’t a disc to pep up your party, but it is one worth repeated listening. If it’s surprising, that’s probably due to comparisons with her two previous releases and the fact that the attempt here was far more artistic than commercial. Lisa Marie has her own blues to sing and she delivers them with style and grace. This is one Presley very much in the building.
Article comments
1 - nernine
You just had to work a Presly quote in the end didn't ya lol! Well at least the critics are kind, cause I seem to remember they were too embarassed/proud to even have LMP in their high thoughts no less as a singer/songwriter. (Also around the time when it was cool to make fun of her for her personal life, i.e. MJ) Glad that some are coming around and it seems her new release is going to be great, if judging by "You Ain't seen nothing Yet." Well from the looks of it we haven't yet!