Shawn Colvin – These Four Walls
After a long run at Columbia Records, Shawn Colvin has landed at Nonesuch, a label that has nurtured a stable of celebrated adult artists who are not expected to compete at the top of the charts. Virtually nothing has changed in Colvin’s creative process; ten of the thirteen songs on These Four Walls were co-written in a long-distance collaboration with her longtime producer John Leventhal (who also records with his wife, Rosanne Cash).
There’s plenty to like about Colvin, with her intimate voice, flavorful guitar picking, and personable if sometimes obscure lyrics high on the list. Leventhal’s production is always tasteful, stirring acoustic and electric instruments into stylish folk-pop arrangements. But sometimes the settings are too tasteful, with predictability robbing some soul from a hard-hitting song such as the title track, which mixes images of loneliness with intimations of mortality. There’s plenty of mid-life angst in Colvin’s new songs — the single mom who just turned 50 digs especially deep on the doleful “Venetian Blue” and the snappy “Fill Me Up” — but the musical palette is the same as it’s been since 1996’s A Few Small Repairs. A notable exception is a boastful rocker called “Tuff Kid”.
Colvin closes with a fine solo cover of the Bee Gees’ “Words” (she also includes a jangly Paul Westerberg tune, “Even Here We Are”). These round out a collection that’s pleasing, but less than fresh, suggesting the need for a more adventurous alternative.
Before she made records, Colvin briefly sang with the Buddy Miller Band after his girlfriend Julie left the group to pursue the Christian life (we all know how that turned out). Bet Buddy could cut a cool record on Shawn.