The album opens with “Mirage,” the track beginning with a bit of banter, “What do you guys think about one more,” before the pretty work on keys gets things started. Then Amanda Anne Platt comes in, the song’s first lines setting a scene: “Smoky hotel restaurant/Somewhere in New England/A waitress asks me what I want/And I tell her I’m still thinking/When I’m sober, all my words taste like copper pennies.” One thing that is striking, and wonderful, about this song is that the moment when she sings about stepping outside, the song takes on more life, developing a nice rhythm. It is like the music itself thrives on that breath of fresh air. This is a gorgeous, moving song, with a heartfelt vocal performance and some good work on pedal steel. And it provides the album with its title in the lines, “It’s such a windy world out there/And everybody keeps on blowing away/I try to tell myself that I don’t care/But I learn to love the ones that stay.” While it might be a cold world, this song offers its own warmth. Scott McMicken plays acoustic guitar on this track. That’s followed by “Clean Slate,” its first line, “Tonight I’d like to do some drinking,” delivered in a straightforward manner, striking in its honesty. “With all the innocence of children/With all the careless wrath of war/It’s our own mystery we’re killing/And we may never ever know what for.” On this one, Kevin Williams plays both mandolin and organ. This track also features Mark Platt on harmonica. “Close your eyes and we all disappear/And there is nothing more, there is nothing more that I can do/But there is music.” There is hope and optimism in the delivery of the music, in that rhythm, in the guitar and the organ.
As “Window Pane” begins, there is the sound of birds. This track features an absolutely beautiful vocal performance. The opening lines are compelling and memorable: “I wrap this memory in barbed wire/So I won’t pick it up again.” This track has an interesting atmosphere, one that places the focus on the voice, and it is like everything is coming from the same place, from a place of memory. “And I cry for the child that I’ve been.” As the drums begin to pick up, that rhythm catches us in its movement, propelling us to some beautiful space. “And I’m coming home again/I’m coming home again,” Amanda Anne Platt then sings. Ah, is that where each of us is headed? This track contains some pretty work on pedal steel. And those backing vocals come to us like a soothing voice gliding down from the mountains to let us know things are going to be okay. Scott McMicken provides the harmony vocals. “And I lost my mind/When I saw we were on, on the losing side.” There are moments when Amanda Anne Platt’s delivery reminds me of Patty Griffin. Then “Forever,” like the first track, contains just a bit of the sounds from the recording studio, including laughter and a counting off. Here she sings, “And the only thing that holds it all together/Is nothing lasts forever.” I love lyrics like that, lines that can be applied to many things, to whatever it is we are experiencing. Because, really, we all do that with music anyway, don’t we? There is a bit of laughter at the end too.
This album features songs with great opening lines. Take “Big Year,” for example. Its first couple of lines, “It’s been a big year/I hope the next one can be smaller,” grabbed me. And soon she sings, “And I’m laughing back tears/But I can’t hold ‘em off forever/After all this stormy weather/I’ll be drying out for years.” Hell, I couldn’t hold them back even for the length of those lines. It feels good to let them out, letting the music take them from me. We’ve all had years like this, haven’t we? What’s also interesting about those lines is the use of the word “laughing,” coming after a track that ended with a bit of laughter. Again, things like that connect the songs. This is another gorgeous song. Interestingly, here she uses a line that was in “Clean Slate” too, “With all the innocence of children,” helping to make this album feel like one piece, rather than a group of unrelated tracks. There is just a hint of laughter at the start of “Forget Me Not Blue,” reminding us of the very process of recording these songs, which adds to the real, human feel of the tracks. “I knew I’d cry, I knew he’d hold me/Wasn’t ready to believe the things he told me/And everyone must be the star of their own movie.” That reminds me of Ken Kesey, who told folks, “Always stay in your own movie.” This is a song to help us through troubling times.
“The Lesson” is a song in which music plays an important part, the first verse finding her hanging out at an open mic, “Laughing with my friends at a table in the back.” A later verse is about “a song your parents used to love/It meant something to them back when you were young/It comes on the radio, a wild and lonely blessing.” And as for repeated images and ideas, this song also mentions innocence in the line “Sweet innocence in a world gone crazy.” This track features some nice touches by Mark Platt on harmonica. There is some studio banter in the background at the end. That’s followed by the album’s only cover, “On The Street Where You Live,” which was written by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe. This rendition has a sweet, relaxed country vibe, and this track too features some nice stuff on harmonica by Mark Platt. Scott McMicken plays acoustic guitar, and both he and Greg Cartwright provide additional work on percussion.
As “Pocket Song” begins, we hear a child talking. And then Amanda Anne Platt sings, “I came here to be teachable, so teach me/I know it seems the lessons seldom ever reach me,” lessons being another repeated idea in the material. “So if my arms can no longer reach you/And my smile can’t find you where you live/There’s a pocket in my heart where I always keep you.” This is a sweet and pretty country number. In the second half, there is a nice instrumental section featuring piano. “Saint Angela” follows, this song counted off at the beginning. This is another moving number, one of the disc’s highlights, and it features some interesting percussion. Scott McMicken is on percussion here. “A ring on my left hand, and I’m loosening my grip on so many things I thought I’d need.” And check out these lines: “There in her grief, there’s a moment of peace/Oh, to be young and helpless again.” Those lines are repeated a couple of times, and in fact, are the closing lines of the song. This track also features some excellent work on guitar.
The opening lines of “The Muse Of Time” make us think of a wedding: “Are you old, are you new/Are you borrowed, are you blue.” And then Amanda Anne Platt sings, “Are you something I could hold onto/Or just one more thing that I’d be scared to lose.” And with those lines she has us firmly in her grasp, and can lead us where she will. As the song kicks in for the chorus, it takes on a strong country rhythm. This track contains a really nice instrumental section as well. The album concludes with “Empty Little Room,” its first lines mentioning a lesson: “Then they learn the lesson/If it’s painful, let it be/I’m tired of all this guessing.” It’s a beautiful song of letting go. “Daddy, don’t you worry/If you ain’t feeling so strong/You’ve got the world on your shoulders/If it’s heavy, let it fall.” Sometimes we need a reminder that we can walk away from the past. After all, “Morning’s coming soon.” As the album began with a bit of banter, so it ends.
CD Track List
- Mirage
- Clean Slate
- Window Pane
- Forever
- Big Year
- Forget Me Not Blue
- The Lesson
- On The Street Where You Live
- Pocket Song
- Saint Angela
- The Muse Of Time
- Empty Little Room
The Ones That Stay was released on August 9, 2024 on Mule Kick Records.
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