My Life (studio album) by Iris DeMent

From TheDude85 10/04/2020 23:00

There's a tone or quality in Iris DeMent's voice that just triggers affection. I'm not sure what to call it, but when I hear her sing (despite my previous natural aversion to "hillibilly music") I am 100% transported by her authenticity and a feeling of empathy over-takes me. Perhaps it the girlishness of her vocalese (which would seem to under-cut the very adult subject matters she sings about) that bears a certain wisdom beyond her years kind of thought. Anyway, the 10 songs here have an autobiographical base, performed with minimal sound and fury that supports the intimate nature of the atmosphere.

From buzzdainer 09/07/2016 18:46

I was first drawn to Iris DeMent by a review in SPIN magazine that described the album in this way: "One step--but only one step--more secular than her beloved fundamentalist parents, Iris DeMent's preserved twang and suspended orchestrations unlock gospel and country for rock fans, offering unbreakable gentleness as a modern epiphany about rural values." This is a fine backwoods Appalachian folk album, highlighted by "You've Done Nothing Wrong," a song that attempts to grapple with the ineffable feelings that come at the end of relationships that fizzle out rather than ending with infidelity or conflict.