Produced by Memphis luminary Jim Dickinson, Amy LaVere‘s Anchors & Anvils, contends as a fine blueprint for her blossoming talent. Recorded at Dickinson’s Zebra Ranch, these ten songs contain–like all Dickinson’s projects–a cohesive sonic quality. The opening track, “Killing Him”, a murderous love song, sets the tone for the dark moodiness threading these tracks.
When asked about Dickinson’s no-nonsense recording style of keeping the numbers of takes down, Amy told me: “You’re right. He doesn’t. Probably being the least experienced of anybody that was in the studio I definitely demanded more takes than necessary. I guess because I felt insecure and I wanted to do it better. But Jim was always right. Always…”
“That Beat”, a Carla Thomas tune, emits a laid-back soulful groove. “Pointless Drinking” is a perfect song for Amy LaVere to sing, and these songs transfer well to a live audience. Dickinson and Jimbo Mathus lend their talent to several of these tunes which include guitar, bass, keyboards, drums, sitar, violin, mandolin omni chord, upright bass and Hawaiian guitar.
LaVere’s “Cupid’s Arrow” stands as a lighthearted love song. However, her cover of Bob Dylan‘s “I’ll Remember You” proves worth the price of this album. Her voice contains a golden quality. Anchors & Anvils represents a debut release of one of the country’s finest young singers.
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