Susan Werner's Koch debut, and her sixth outing overall, is a collection of self-penned tunes in the manner, spirit, and flavor that spending a late night working in an office on Tin Pan Alley might provide. There is a beautiful, smoky, jazzy feeling that reminds one simultaneously of
Hoagy Carmichael's more laid-back moments,
Jerome Kern's humor, and the deep nostalgic atmospherics of
Tom Waits' early Tin Pan Alley-influenced material -- without the barfly surrealism. That said,
Werner's latest is a thoroughly modern recording. From the opening piano shimmers of the title track, which opens the disc, she comes out with it straightaway -- "Coffee, ham and eggs/I can be your dinner" -- and seemingly throws all notions of modern-day PC lyric acceptability to the wind, thank god.
Werner's lyric sensibility keeps its wit and never gives up the dignity of her protagonist as she states in a matter of fact way that she can be all things but new. It's a beautiful line in the sand that listeners don't hear much anymore in American song. This isn't defiance; it's simply acceptance and a humorous but profound truth. All the best pop songs have them. This album is full of them.