Broken Things

Description

Broken Things is the sixth album by the American singer and songwriter Julie Miller, released on HighTone Records in 1999. The album is considered a companion piece to the previously released Blue Pony, similar in its themes of human frailty and divine mercy.

The next album by Julie Miller was a self-titled recording by the husband-and-wife duo Buddy & Julie Miller, released on HighTone Records in 2001.

This second record for the Hightone label finds Julie Miller in familiar surroundings, singing plaintive singer/songwriter music, equal parts folk, country and rock. Those who remember her for her days as a Christian market artist will barely recognize her voice, which has developed from its squeaky, nasal origins to a full, resonant, if at times reedy, instrument. Placed in the service of her own strong, heartfelt songs, she’s created a project that deserves to sit beside last year’s classic from Lucinda Williams, Car Wheel on a Gravel Road.

Blue Pony (1997) was a fine, fresh new studio beginning and a grand vehicle for introducing Miller to roots music fans when, on the road, she joined her husband/guitarist/producer Buddy Miller in Emmylou Harris’ band Spyboy. Harris adds her sweet vocal presence on «Broken Things», a song written in 1993 that was sung at the memorial service for victims of bombing in Ireland last year.

Julie borrows «All My Tears» from the extensive Harris catalog with Steve Earle sitting in on mandolin. Earle reappears on the project, singing on «Strange Love». Other duet partners include Patti Griffin, Victoria Williams and Buddy, whose ever-present, expressive guitar tones warm this album and ensure his place in the instrument’s hall of fame. Also contributing musically are Phil Madeira (B3 and accordion), Steve Hindalong (percussion), John Schreiner (keys) and John Catchings (cello).

Often shaped as prayers, these sad, honest, heart-bearing works rarely make a directly religious reference, but one cannot escape the deeply spiritual values that inform every word, every tone. It’s an artistic triumph. [Brian Quincy Newcomb, CCM, October 1999]

A little girl voice that held ages, ‘Broken Things’ offered redemption as well as deep love for those damaged by life. For Julie Miller, whose second album for Hightone following a Christian career, there was always salvation peeking through the cracks of her songs. Beyond the divine, there was the charismatic «I Need You», the Appalachian dirge «Orphan Train» and the percussively minor-keyed creeper «Strange Lover», an homage to – of all things – cocaine. Emmylou Harris would record the shimmering «All My Tears» and Lee Ann Womack would embrace «Orphan Train» and «I Know Why The River Runs» further broadening Miller’s reach. But the songwriter with a dexterous voice that does many things – howl, coo, caress and throttle – remains her own best interpreter. «I Still Cry», a straightforward elegy, suggests the way some people linger in unlikely ways long after they’re gone with the sorrow profoundly transparent in her tone, bringing both naked vulnerability and intuitive playing that exemplifies the best of Americana. [Holly Gleason, Paste Magazine, August 2016]

> iTunes (https://music.apple.com/us/album/broken-things/1491414374)

CD tracklist:

01. Ride the Wind to Me – 4:05
02. I Know Why the River Runs – 4:35
03. I Need You – 4:36
04. I Still Cry – 4:39
05. Out In the Rain – 4:19
06. Orphan Train – 4:01
07. Broken Things – 3:26
08. All My Tears – 3:33
09. Two Soldiers – 3:47
10. Maggie – 4:06
11. Strange Lover – 5:00
12. The Speed of Light – 2:13

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