East Nashville-based singer-songwriter Amelia White has now released three noteworthy albums in the past five years yet only two, including presumably this one, Love I Swore, get much attention. Yet, while her ‘pandemic’ album, 2022’s Rocket Rearview is the unheralded one, this recent effort is arguably the outlier. That’s because Dave Coleman produced Rocket Rearview as well as the widely acclaimed 2019 Rhythm of The Rain, albums that had a raw, organic feel as compared to this Kim Richey-helmed effort that has more layered production values and a decidedly more hook-filled sound. Now, before you think this is simply due to chronological evolution, it’s not. Most of Love I Swore was in the can before Rocket Rearview was released, for whatever reasons it was held back. Perhaps none of that matters much except to those who follow these developments closely. Most listeners only care about the musical content, of which we’ll describe as a more embellished, polished version of White due to Richey’s touches and those of guitarist Doug Lancio (more on that later).
Thematically most of these songs touch on relationships gained and lost, with one memorably shedding light on the travails of the troubadour’s life. Resilience, optimism, regret, and realism are all deeply embedded in these songs, none more so than in the infectious opener, “Something New Comes” where she sings about the potential of something new after loss. The lightly stomping “I Follow the River,” might be analogous to the songwriter following the muse for inspiration. While four background singers including Richey enrich the opener, Richey’s distinct voice alone harmonizes beautifully with White on the latter. Richey, present on most, joins on the uplifting, singalong “Beautiful Dream” where Ben Glover joins White as a duet partner, as he did with Gretchen Peters on Blackbirds. Not coincidentally, guitarist Doug Lancio also played and produced Peters’ record which also involved Richey.
Lest we digress, the jangly “Nothing I Can Do” finds her reconciling the disappointment of landing a big deal and the inattention of a lover with the notion that it’s out of her control now. She describes the frustration of being stranded in an airport when all she wants to do is get to the gig in “Get to the Show.” (written with Gwil Owen). This sequence is especially relatable to those who have been through that anxiety-ridden airport experience – “…People all around me coming and going/I’m stuck here cause it won’t stop snowing/Kids on sugar leaving a trail/Suits on cell phones closing a sale.” The tone shifts to breezy in the love-filled “Don’t You Ever Forget” with Lancio supplying an array of sounds via electric, resonator, and octave 12-string guitars. “Can You See Me Now” has highly textured sonics in support of a direct, but short of anguished plea to a former lover while that longing continues with the nice touch of Eamon McLoughlin’s violin in the title track.
The rather ambient “Time,” co-written with Mando Saenz, has the indelible chorus of “Time Will Show You” along with this memorable line as she likens the concept of time to a “bird on a wing with X-ray eyes.” The confessional “Lost Myself” is another of the pleading lover tunes while the closing “Don’t Know Her” ruminates about being no longer able to relate to a lover that’s somehow become a ghost of her former self, ending the album on a somewhat somber note through a heavy reverb backdrop that mirrors the narrator’s puzzlement.
From optimism and sheer bliss that graced the first few tracks and at least one along the way, the album grows incrementally despairing lyrically, yet the hook-filled and varied musical accompaniment keeps the listener engaged to White’s consistently potent and verbally direct songwriting. Only the best singer-songwriters have such a gift and White has proven again that she’s one of the few.
