Montreal-based singer and guitarist Amy Millan is best known for lending her voice to the excellent alt-rock groups Stars and Broken Social Scene, but her debut solo album, Honey From the Tombs, takes on a sound that's distinctly bluegrass. Listeners may be surprised by the shift, but Millan's voice makes songs in any genre soar, complementing country-style sorrow with the complexities of electronic rock.
Before joining Stars in 2000, Millan lived with bluegrass band Crazy Strings, who rekindled her love for country and bluegrass greats. Many of the songs on Honey From the Tombs were written in the '90s and focus mainly, as so many great country songs do, on whiskey and heartache. Soft and sweet, the tracks show her development as a songwriter, with "Losin' You" and "Skinny Boy" serving as beautiful remembrances of loves past.
After a decade of recording and performing, Millan has finally brought these gems out into the open. Recorded during the last three years with producer Ian Blurton and members of Broken Social Scene and Stars, Honey From the Tombs preserves eight years of romance and reflection in a lovely combination of folk and country.
Copyright 2006 XPN
