Album Review – Allison Moorer’s “Down to Believing”
Allison Moorer’s career has been one of living in the shadows and through the associations of people slightly more famous than herself. The sister of Shelby Lynne, the recently separated wife of Steve Earle, and the other singer on the smash hit “Picture” from 2002 that paired Sheryl Crow and Kid Rock together, but featured Allison in a separate mix when a label dispute meant Crow couldn’t officially be on the track (though much of radio played the Crow version anyway)—Moorer’s biggest moments in the spotlight seem to be ones where the full beam shines just slightly past her.
What’s hiding below the big spotlights and shiny awards is a remarkable career filled with sincere songs, significant admiration from peers, and the accomplishments of a good singer. As the kid sister of Shelby Lynne, she came up in a time when major labels were still willing to take chances on songwriters and siblings of proven commodities that showed promise, and as long as some records were sold here and there, it was fine to stick around if by chance a hit song or record emerged. Signed with MCA Nashville and then Universal South through the late 90’s into the 2000’s, Allison was part of the strong an influential alt-country crowd that laid the foundations for the success of modern-day Americana.
Only fitting then maybe that Allison would find herself playing house with Steve Earle starting in 2005 or so, and ending about a year ago. Just as it’s easy to see how the split inspired Earle’s recent blues-only album Terraplane, so it feels like Moorer’s new Down to Believing is a leaving record too, but one that doesn’t revel in misery, but looks to draw wisdom from the loss and lessons that life presents when times get tough.
Down to Believing nestles right down in that classic alt-country approach of building up from a country foundation, but then striking out with a decidedly rock and roll sound. It’s a bold, full experience that in some ways reminds one of the nascent alt-country period when the sounds were still fresh and renewed, yet still had the essence of what made you a country fan to begin with. If anything, this album may even sound a little too reminiscent of a 15 to 20-year-old time and feel a little dated.
All except for an obvious cover of CCR’s “Have You Ever Seen The Rain,” Moorer wrote or co-write every song for Down to Believing, and whether the music sounds slightly dated or not, the sentiments feel very real and relevant to the head space one can imagine Moorer residing in. This is a human, and this is a songwriter working through the dilemmas life has presented to her and conveying to listeners the lonesomeness, self-reflection, and learning these moments impart, and the promise of working through them. Where it could have been presented as mostly melancholy, there’s a spirit here underneath, and a deep energy that takes the album beyond a depressing listen.
Down to Believing keeps you engaged throughout. The opening track “Like It Used To Be” sets an energetic and thematic tone, leading into one of the most heart-wrenching moments “Thunderstorm/Hurricane.” Encapsulating the theme of the record most eloquently is “Down To Believing.” “Tear Me Apart” felt a little too forced, almost like an alt-country version of “Somethin’ Bad” by Carrie & Miranda with a little too much sass and not enough substance. The song “Mama Let The Wolf In” felt a little out of place on this project, but is still sort of cool in its own right, and even though “Blood” doesn’t fit the theme perfectly either, it’s familial reflection makes it one of the record’s standouts.
Something else worth mentioning is how present this record sounds. So much of the current generation of Americana artists feel it’s best to sully their recordings with sentimental hissing or inferior-sounding textures so as to evoke the essence of old records. Down to Believing feels very alive and colorful, with good production and a variety of moods.
A five year wait and real world inspiration resulted in an effort that is inspired and alive, and reminds Americana/alt-country listeners that hey, that sister of Shelby Lynne is worth a good listen too.
1 1/2 of 2 Guns Up.
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March 26, 2015 @ 7:42 pm
That “hissing and texture” is called music. It’s made with energy, static, and vibration. That “present sound” you’re hearing is a software developer’s representation of music. Computer programs don’t vibrate. They just sit there. They are clean sounding though…
March 26, 2015 @ 8:00 pm
All due respect Sam, that’s a pretty serious oversimplification. You can still have an album with warmth and presence recorded on 2″ tape in an analog studio and still not make it sound like it was recorded in 1967 as a gimmick. I don’t even mind doing it as a gimmick in spurts. In fact I kind of like it. But there’s been too much of it lately and I appreciated the sound quality of this record.
March 26, 2015 @ 8:57 pm
Yea – the fake, purposeful gimmicky crap is annoying. Adding tape hiss because the natural tape hiss wasn’t enough…fake record scratching… I don’t hear that very often, but yea – it gets old after one spin of that crap!
March 27, 2015 @ 8:25 am
It is worth giving Kenny Greenberg credit here as producer. She worked with him on the first couple albums as well.
March 26, 2015 @ 7:44 pm
– It’s my understanding that “Thuderstorm/Hurricane” and “Mamma Let the Wolf In” are about her dealing with the diagnosis of her kid’s autism (John Henry). I think that was also the inspiration, along with her separation from Earle, for most of the album.
– I agree about this record feeling dated. “If I Were Stronger” sounds shockingly mainstream and note for note, word for word like a Martina McBride song from the late 90’s. It could have easily been on McBride’s ‘Evolution’ album.
– If you ever do another ‘throwback review,’ I suggest Allison Moorer’s ‘The Hardest Part’. Still one my favorite albums that defined that alt-country era.
March 27, 2015 @ 8:09 am
Yes, from interviews, “Mama Let the Wolf In” is definitely about their son’s autism. Haven’t seen her say that about “Hurricane”. I don’t see a thematic leap. The album is about family, but also I am sure the strain of having having to accept they had child with autism contributed to the divorce. “Blood” is definitely about Shelby.
I think this is her best in the last decade, but not outstanding. I love her voice and lyrics, but the music itself doesn’t always move me.
On another note Shelby has a new album out in May.
March 27, 2015 @ 9:54 am
“The Hardest Part” was my first Allison Moorer album and is still my favorite. I remember a reviewer describing the music as “country soul” and I think that’s a good description.
So far, I haven’t picked this one up. I haven’t loved her last couple of albums and the music here hits me as kind of bland roots rock.
March 27, 2015 @ 12:58 pm
“The Hardest Part” has definitely withstood the test of time; it’s my go-to Moorer album. But, at one time, when I was much more genre diverse, “Miss Fortune” was my favorite.
Moorer came through our offices in 2006 promoting “Getting Somewhere” (my least favorite). Usually when an artist would visit they’d give a boardroom performance then take some pictures and sign some stuff. She was signing the new album for everyone else, but I gave her the CD booklet from “Miss Fortune.” She looked at it strange, leafed through it and said it had been years since she saw it (it had only been four years!). I thought it was a very strange comment at the time, but it makes sense now – there has been a disconnect or lack of progressive lineage in Moorer’s work the past 11 years.
March 26, 2015 @ 8:55 pm
Based on the previews, most of the album sounds a bit too loud and flat to me. However, there are some apparent gems, specifically “Down to Believing”, “If I Were Stronger”, “Blood”, and “Gonna Get It Wrong”.
I also like “Wish I” and “I’m Doing Fine”, both of which mix classic country with a 90s soft rock sound.
I just would like to get something off my chest regarding SCM reviews. In general, before I buy songs from an album, I want to hear the whole songs to make certain that they are worth the money. I wonder, Trigger, if there is any way that you could talk with the artists and labels to get their authorization to post the full album for a limited period of time. NPR often does this with their “First Listen” feature, which helped me greatly with making purchasing decisions regarding the albums from Kacey Musgraves, Brandy Clark, and Sturgill Simpson.
March 26, 2015 @ 9:27 pm
You can stream Moorer’s album in it’s entirety through Soundcloud here: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/premieres/hear-allison-moorer-embrace-change-on-new-album-down-to-believing-20150316?page=3
March 26, 2015 @ 11:25 pm
Thanks for the link!
March 26, 2015 @ 10:15 pm
If an album is available for streaming through BandCamp or Soundcloud and it’s embeddable, I usually will include it at the end of my review. Unfortunately because of the size of SCM respective to NPR, Rolling Stone, and other outlets that regularly get streaming previews, I’m just never going to be able to compete. Ironically, there are a lot of artists who probably could do themselves a huge service by streaming their album here as opposed to one of these bigger outlets where there the event will get gobbled up by everything else and the music may not fit perfectly within the outlet’s demographic. But publicists, managers, and labels will always go with the outlet they perceive will get the most traffic. However just because a site receives a lot of traffic doesn’t mean that traffic interact with a specific album stream, or that stream will appeal to those listeners.
March 26, 2015 @ 11:01 pm
That’s what they don’t get. YOUR traffic is 1000x more valuable than RS traffic!
March 28, 2015 @ 8:08 am
If only the know-it-all country radio gatekeepers would listen to what that traffic says instead of arguing with us and shooting themselves in the foot.
March 28, 2015 @ 8:05 am
By the time I listen to a NPR stream it’s usually over. I wonder why full album previews are available to stream for a short time instead of the maybe 2 years between albums.
March 27, 2015 @ 8:13 am
I think another spotlightish moment for her was writing and singing “Soft Place to Fall” for “The Horse Whisperer.” Always been one of my favorites by her… and definitely country.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rju2AO4tB_M
March 28, 2015 @ 1:36 am
Allison Moorer needs musical help . Great voice , great energy , great looks …….but in my opinion she has always needed FAR stronger material . Like her sister Shelby , for that matter . The song posted here is monotonous , forgettable and doesn’t seem to challenge Allison . The video seems thoughtless , uncreative and leaves little in the way of imagery that will stay with the viewer / listener outside of Allisons very pretty face . I haven’t heard the rest of her album so I won’t comment.
March 28, 2015 @ 6:28 am
Allison came back to Nashville last year, signed a deal with Warner Chapel and they started booking her writing sessions like any music row writer. She even wrote a lot with one of the guys that wrote “Truck Yeah” and other music row writers like Jeffery Steele and Skip Black. All of the tracks were cut as demos for Chapel to save money but that means they recorded five songs per three hour session using players that you hear on country radio everyday. That is lighting assembly line fast. Kind of hard to work out arrangements and get down to the nitty gritty when you are racing against the union time card clock. Her singing is more linear and not as emotive as Shelby’s and her songwriting isn’t even close to Steve’s. She has probably received more attention because of her association with them and would have been forgotten by now if not for those calling cards.
March 28, 2015 @ 11:07 am
” All of the tracks were cut as demos for Chapel to save money but that means they recorded five songs per three hour session using players that you hear on country radio everyday. That is lighting assembly line fast..”
Man ..that’s what EVERYTHING on mainstream country radio sounds like …like it was recorded lightening fast with little thought to any serious creativity outside of the odd sonic earmark