Sam Phillips grows the chamber pop of Fan Dance into a more conceptually fulsome realization of that sound on a boot and a shoe. Husband/producer T Bone Burnett retains the string quartet, minimal rock instrumentation and hushed vocal delivery (almost mumbly sometimes) from last time. He adds drums that sound to be coming from a parade in which Tom Waits would march, among few other elements. Conceptually, Phillips progresses, too, as a boot... forms a song cycle chronicling the dissolution of a romance begun on peculiar terms in the first place. As with the best of her post-Leslie Phillips work, she figures the Almighty into the details, if not calling on Him outright anywhere. It's a grown-up break-up album, subtle, melancholy and reflective, geared to the adult alt- and collegiate-radio listeners she's been cultivating. Those of us who remember her from back when can only wonder when she'll sing with a smile again and hope none of this reflects her relationship with Burnett.
Editors' ratings — Doug 3/5, David 4/5
Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth 2004Reviewed by Steve StockmanSam Phillips has been releasing quietly beautiful works of poetry and slightly left field melodic quirk for near twenty years since she changed her name from Leslie to Sam, exited the straightjacket of contemporary Christian music and married then songwriter and now super-star producer T-Bone Burnett. Her albums have always been about taking on the powers of the modern age, the shallow surface of…Similar sounding releases
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