2018’s May Your Kindness Remain was singer-songwriter Courtney Marie Andrews’ breakout album. Old Flowers, her third for Fat Possum, surpasses that effort. Few albums come more highly anticipated. Every so often, writers like this one can be somewhat embarrassed to learn that Andrews had issued five albums prior to the 2018 stunner, which proved to be one of the year’s best albums and launched high profile touring for her. Her magical, deeply emotional part folk, part gospel voice is a stunning instrument that somehow completely engulfs the listener. Rarely has anyone sung about pain and heartbreak and made it sound devastatingly beautiful in the process. On Old Flowers she summons her songwriting skill, vocal prowess, and musicianship into one career-defining statement. We hesitate to term it a breakup album because there are far too many of those and may cause some to dismiss it as another femme fatale crying for attention. Shun that thinking right away. This is vulnerable songwriting at its best and yet, even if you don’t focus on the lyrics, her voice is just a remarkable gift that keeps on giving.
This whole album was made by just three musicians, wringing every possible sound out of guitars, keys, pedal steel, and especially judicious use of pump organ and Mellotron. They are Andrews (vocals, acoustic guitar, piano), Twain’s Matthew Davidson (bass, celeste, mellotron, pedal steel, piano, pump organ, wurlitzer, background vocals) and Big Thief’s James Krivchenia (drums, percussion). To be fair, producer Andrew Sarlo (Bon Iver, Big Thief) plays bass on two tracks but in any given song, it’s just two or three musicians playing. This minimal adornment frames Andrews’ gorgeous vocals and adds some poignance to the pain she expresses. Some outlets are already comparing Andrews’ voice to Linda Ronstadt and her songwriting to Joni Mitchell – hyperbole for sure but just to be in that same conversation is notable.
Yes, this is about falling hard. She sings bout the dissolution of a nine-year relationship. With the delay of the release, you may have already heard the singles “Burlap String” and “If I Told” but as she indicates in her notes the title itself explains that she’s moving on, realizing you can’t water old flowers. In her words, “This is my story of the most heartbreaking, but soul-revealing, year of my life.” “Burlap String,” is beautifully melancholic and it was released with an accompanying a music video, featuring Andrews hiking a nature trail, picking flowers and laying in fields as the sun eventually sets. The location has a deep personal connection to Andrews, filmed in the Arizona-Mexican border town of Bisbee, an art-loving community where Andrews met two of her greatest mentors—Derrick and Amy, musicians with the moniker Nowhere Man and a Whiskey Girl—who have since passed. You can easily access on the web a lengthy powerful statement from Andrews about her relationship with the duo and how their memory inspired the music video shoot. So, even though the song was written about her departed lover, it entails another whole story.
“If I Told” is a five-minute ballad that recalls a pivotal night on Venice Beach in Los Angeles.
“Tell me your dreams and I’ll tell you mine/what would you say, if I told you/you’re my last thought at the end of each night? Would you believe me, or would you even reply?” Like so many on the album, her voice sounds like a transmission from heaven, an inescapable but hauntingly lovely beam of truth through the hurt. Glean the other song titles – “Break the Spell,” “Guilty,” “How You Get Hurt,” “It Must Be Someone Else’s Fault,” “Ships in the Night” and “Together or Alone” – it’s rather easy to see where she’s coming from.
Certainly, the album was a cathartic exercise, but she’s shared what few will and emerged from it with a clearer sense of self-worth, lessons and words she hopes might have a similar effect on her listeners. Whether you choose to immerse yourself in this emotional journey or not, you’ll be impacted. Andrews has now reached the point where she is one of today’s most distinct voices.
