Allison Moorer

Crows (Ryko)

By Caroline Evans
Published: March 3rd, 2010 | 7:00am

Don’t be fooled by the happy “la la las” and catchy melody of “The Broken Girl,” the fourth song on Allison Moorer’s Crows. Her latest offering, for the most part, is downright spooky — from the ghostlike guitar twang to the death-dance rhythms to the singer’s own mournful voice. Sparse instrumentation reflects the dark, lonely world Moorer creates. Add to that lyrics such as “When you wake up feeling dead / Tell those demons inside your head / Can’t even get out of your bed,” and Crows is an overall depressing album, only to be played immediately after a bad break-up to remind you how much worse your life could be. And maybe on Halloween. On first glance, the album would appear to be a triumph of technique over substance.

Moorer’s piano anthem “Easy in the Summertime” at first appears to break this rule. It starts off as a simple lullaby, growing to include string arrangements. The lyrics brim with nostalgia, such as “July 1981 / Alabama summer sun / Sissy got a fishing pole / Went down to the honey hole.” But when one recalls Moorer’s background — that she was raised by her sister, Shelby Lynne, after the murder-suicide of their parents — the song takes on another meaning. Then we remember what we forgot about lullabies: they’re all a little bit spooky too.

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