Score: 4/5
A year after The Civil War’s breakup, 32-year-old Joy Williams produces a chilling, contemporary masterpiece in her fourth solo album, “VENUS.”
Stepping away from the Americana, folky sound of her duo with John Paul White, Williams sings with theatrical drumbeats and vocals behind her melodies. She keeps the haunting voice, which helped her and White win four Grammy awards prior to the duo’s demise.
“VENUS” contains a diversity of tempos ranging from the heart thumping beats of “Woman (Oh Mama)” to the hesitant and emotionally gripping “One Day I Will.”
Williams’ former bandmate, White, has yet to release any music after returning to his wife and kids after being on the road with The Civil Wars. Williams’ album is powerful and moving, offering moments of nostalgia for The Civil Wars’ fans. Songs like “Until the Levee” and “The Dying Kind” offer the unabashed emotions of her previous band work.
Williams’ Christian-pop background shows in her music with dark, southern gospel-like ambience. The album climaxes in “Until the Levee,” where Williams describes the pain of a suffering heart, aching in silence “until the levee of my heart breaks.”
While Williams’ new album is impressive, it does not meet the standard produced in her music with White, and it is quite possible that nothing Williams and White ever produce in their solo careers will ever meet the heart, crushing elegies of The Civil Wars.
“VENUS” provides an impressive step forward for Williams, and a hopeful glimpse at what lies in store. However, the sounds and emotions of The Civil Wars will always haunt the souls of music lovers, and so far their breakup killed the gut wrenching folk music that was a key to the musical hearts of thousands.