Amy Millan
Honey from the Tombs
(Arts & Crafts)
First Appeared in The Music Box, August 2006, Volume 13, #8
Written by John Metzger
Coming in the wake of Stars’ dramatic Set Yourself on Fire, Amy
Millan’s solo debut Honey from the Tombs can’t help but to feel a little
disappointing. Not only do most of her alcohol-soaked lyrics ruminate about
relationships in a fairly typical fashion, but the music also darts
unimaginatively between the lush atmospherics of indie-pop and the stripped-bare
fragility of bluegrass, country, and folk. In short, there’s nothing new to be
found on the set, though that’s due, at least in part, to the fact that all of
its material was composed during her formative years. In effect, Honey from
the Tombs merely fills in the gaps between her days spent sharing a room
with Crazy Strings’ Dan and Jenny Whiteley and her current gigs with Stars and
Broken Social Scene. Adorned with acoustic guitars, banjo, dobro, and mandolin,
the roots-oriented tracks mostly drift by like pleasantly unassuming
afterthoughts, while the indie-pop selections hold all of the murkiness that one
might expect. Nevertheless, tucked into its crevices are a few flashes of
brilliance, and what works and what doesn’t has more to do with the aching
vulnerability lurking within Millan’s vocals than it does with whatever style
she happens to be exploring. She fills Skinny Boy with an air of sad,
sensual longing, and she beautifully conveys the brokenhearted resignation of
the Kris Kristofferson-esque Losin’ You. Elsewhere, Come Home Loaded
Roadie is steeped in loneliness, and on Hard Hearted (Ode to Thoreau),
she turns devastation into strength as her backing band pays tribute to both
Man of Constant Sorrow and Drifting Too Far from the Shore. In the
end, Honey from the Tombs doesn’t contain enough highlights to be of
interest to anyone who hasn’t already fallen under Millan’s spell, but for those
who have,
it does manage rather intriguingly to connect the dots between her past and her
present. 
Honey from the Tombs is available from
Barnes & Noble. To order, Click Here!
Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2006 The Music Box