Brooks Williams follows the shimmering folk blues of 2001s Skiffle Bop with a richer-sounding, tightly constructed, often pop-inflected set that includes several intriguing covers.
Williams kicks off with 80s Scottish popsters Aztec Cameras Birth Of The True. Later he reprises John Martyns classic May You Never, blues singer and pianist Memphis Slims Mother Earth, and Scottish folk artist Dougie Mac-Leans She Loves Me (When I Try). All are reinterpreted in Williams sensitive, thoughtful country-blues-folk style, which now also melds in pop and even jazz.
Nectar evenly weighs Williams soulful singing against his tender but adept finger-style acoustic guitar work, with a full-band lineup that includes producer Phil Madeira on keyboards and guitar (plus some notably gorgeous, subtle lap steel tones on May You Never) and Sixpence None The Richers Chris Donohue on bass. Williams lays down some hazy, jazzy electric rhythm guitar licks as well.
Deeply soulful and softy melodic rhythms lilt and roll, emanating equal parts glory and resignation. For all the hauteur endemic in Williams dusky sweet voice and accomplished musicianship, not to mention his altruistic songwriting, Nectar remains a simple, earthy testament to the everyday that doesnt blur reality. It seems that for Williams, existence, and how you treat it, is grand enough.