[rating=3.50]
The release of 100 Miles from Memphis was preceded by more buzz than is typical of a Sheryl Crow album, mostly because of the news that it would be a soul album. Though many people were excited, most were skeptical. Whenever talented artists step outside their comfort level to take on a new type of music, the results can be profound (Cat Power’s The Greatest) or disastrous (Chris Cornell’s Scream). Luckily, Crow’s latest effort is an example of the former.
Though most often associated with country-tinged pop rock, Crow’s vocals have always had more soul – and more versatility – than she is credited for. Though the album has its dark moments, even the songs of loss have an air of hope and acceptance. It is Crow’s most upbeat album – tonally and thematically – since Tuesday Night Music Club. Lyrically, Crow has never taken herself too seriously and you have to get past the “I don’t have diddly squat” moments. The same holds true here, though the songwriting seems to have matured over time.
Though always a talented songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, it’s Crow’s voice that is the focal point of this album, and it has never sounded better. Her soft, breezy voice drifts through the relaxed reggae of “Eye to Eye.” In her cover of Terence Trent D’Arby’s “Sign Your Name,” her singing is smooth and sensual enough to rival any R&B diva. “Stop” is vintage Sheryl, a soft and melancholy country hybrid, but dramatic pauses and a string section give it added punch. She sounds the most vulnerable in “Sideways,” her duet with Citizen Cope.
It is the jazz tune “Roses and Moonlight” that grabs the most attention, though. Smoky and seductive, her vocals caress and tease in a playful manner. In her two-decade career, Crow has never sounded sexier. To me, the question isn’t whether Sheryl Crow works as a soul singer. The only question is whether history will judge this album as her soul experiment or as when she began a new phase in her career.
