Review Roundup- Betty Soo and Alex Williams

Betty Soo- If You Never Go Away

It's been a decade since Texas singer-songwriter Betty Soo released her last solo album. Not that she's been idle in that time. She formed and toured with the Americana supergroup Nobody's Girl, alongside Rebecca Loebe and Grace Pettis, before COVID lockdowns halted touring for over a year. Since then, she has been touring alongside some of her songwriting heroes, such as Chris Smithers and James McMurtry, serving as a backing vocalist in the latter's band. But now the self-proclaimed “Queen of the Bummer Jams” is back with the solo album If You Never Go Away, and it's a reminder of why a decade was too long to wait.

As you might expect from someone who calls her style of music “Bummer Jams,” If You Never Go Away is full of songs about lost hearts, lost loves, and people who have lost their way. The lead single, “What Do You Want From Me Now”, is a slow burner with lyrics like “If I give you everything you need/tell me would that bring you to your knees?”

McMurtry, himself no stranger to a bummer jam, joins Soo as a duet partner on McMurtry's “Gulf Road.” The two blend voices perfectly as would be expected from a pair who have spent so much time on the road together.

But the album's highlight is the surprisingly uptempo “Light It Up.” It's the tale of an epic fight between a couple who are ready to just burn it down. The song features a horn section which gives it a jolt, especially when the song's twist comes and you find that the couple in question doesn't involve the narrator, who is listening to the fight through paper-thin motel walls. After that reveal, the uptempo beat brings to mind the kind of vicarious thrill one gets from eavesdropping on such a volatile personal conversation.

Let's hope it's not another decade before Betty Soo graces us with another solo album. Her talents are too formidable to be contained in others' projects.

Alex Williams- Space Brain

The thing about “roots music” is that it's always been defined by Boomers, with folks like The Carter Family, Woody Guthrie, and Bob Dylan in the pantheon of what makes something “roots.” But Generation X grew up not only with those influences, but with the rock and roll of the '80s blaring from car radios. That can't help but color one's outlook on music, becoming a whole other branch of “roots music” that isn't often explored. Alex Williams is here to explore that branch. Space Brain is a collection of ten '80s metal songs recorded in the style of outlaw country, Southern rock, and Americana.

Unsurprisingly, the songs that come out the best in this collection are the ones that have the strongest foot in the blues, specifically Cinderella's searing “Nobody's Fool”, which is turned into an electric country ballad superbly, and Tesla's “Gettin' Better” which, despite being one of the less “heavy” songs covered, ends up being the most rocking song of the batch, getting a .38 Special-esque Southern rock makeover.

But there are surprises to be had on Space Brain. Considering the genre's focus on hard drinking and hard gambling, it probably shouldn't be a surprise that Motorhead's iconic “Ace of Spades” comes out of an outlaw country makeover beautifully, but a surprise it is. Guns N’ Roses' “Nighttrain” also comes off well in a percussion-heavy production. Elsewhere, Williams covers Ratt, Poison, Judas Priest, Motley Crue, Skid Row, and Ozzy Osbourne and, mostly, sticks the landing on each of them.

Space Brain could have easily been a gimmick, an eye-winking, ironic production that wouldn't have done service to the songs covered or the artist covering them. But it never feels that way. Even when the songs don't completely work (and only “Look What the Cat Dragged In” doesn't), the album comes off as a love letter to Williams' childhood favorites. It's a fun album.