Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

To display strength comes with its own warning, to do so, you have to be careful that you don’t crush the spirit of those you hoping to inspire with that one unrivalled extreme state, that of intensity, the comparison between the noble cause and the worthy pain, the contrast between Good Souls Better Angels and the penetrating voice which concentrates of the urge of passionate temptation; there must be the understanding in all who hear such a call that the soul is always going to waver romantically when they encounter the sound and strength of the siren.

All artists should have strength within them to convey their message, their own truth, some though have a forte, a speciality which goes further than being able to knock down the walls and the reserves of the inhibited and shy; this gift, in the wrong hands can be destructive, in the hands of such of the resilient and the seekers of the impossible truth, it is productive and fruitful.

Good Souls Better Angels sees the return of Lucinda Williams to the forefront of this cause, the sense of unleashing all that is supressed by others as they attempt to meekly enter an agreement with geniality, with the sirens best friend, blind acceptance. Not for Ms. Williams, not for the vengeance, fire, fury and free will she beautifully exhibits as the intensity in each song grows into a crescendo of beaming wrath, of truthful insight and harmonious rage. It is sheer poetry, an expression of grace delivered with a steel hand.

With tremendous support from Mark T. Jordan, Ray Kennedy, Stuart Mathis, Butch Norton, Tom Overby and Davis Sutton, Lucinda Williams catches the moment we are living in with uneasy brilliance, and across songs such as Bad News Blues, Big Black Train, Pray the Devil Back To Hell, Bone of Contention and Big Rotator, that sense of outrage, of indignation against the whole, is to be applauded, to be understood as not being reconciliatory, but revolutionary.

Good souls don’t always make a good example of an angel with mercy and yet Lucinda Williams, whilst arguing a case for anger, of intense beauty, is an example of a heavenly voice capturing the mood and offering to clip the wings of those who don’t see the issues facing humanity.

Ian D. Hall