REVIEW: Mortal City, Dar Williams

I have been marginally aware of Dar Williams as a musician for a few years, bit it was not until recently that I really became intrigued and enchanted by the wonderful force of nature that she embodies. All it took was one song.

This song, Iowa (Traveling III) which appears on this album,  is, as it turns out,  just one among a multitude of mesmerizing songs written by Williams. It's not hard to realize. All one must do is head over to her website, click on the "radio" link, and listen. Really listen. Williams may have a pretty voice and pleasing arrangements but the richest reward is to be found in the artful composition of her lyrics.

'"You stopped and you pointed, and you said "That's a crocus,"

And I said, "What's a crocus?" and you said "it's a flower,"

I tried to remember, but I said, "What's a flower?"

You said, "I still love you."'

--February

This kind of panoramic whimsy is Williams' trademark: it characterizes each of her songs, from this quiet and reflective examination of the darkest month of the year to the heartfelt irony of As Cool as I Am, the album opener. Her songs often revolve around conversation and subtle nuance.

If Williams has one fault, it is that she can sometimes become overly pensive or caught up in description, as in the case of the title track,  a beautiful but ambitious ballad that stretches over seven minutes in length. Yet this album, like all of her work, has its lighter moments as well; one of them would be the self-deprecating and somewhat sarcastic track The Pointless, Yet Poignant, Crisis of a Co-ed, which recounts a tale of  collegiate drama. The song itself does not stand out from the crowd, except for its title, which seems to offer an apt summary of Williams' approach to songwriting: she takes subjects that would seem pointless to any uneducated observer and transforms them into poignant verses of concrete emotion and abstract description.

Williams is, first and foremost, a storyteller. She revels in anecdotal dialogue, snapshots of everyday being. Whether or not her songs are autobiographical is besides the point; they reach at something deep and universal in the human condition without becoming too serious or somber.