Anne McCue: Broken Promise Land

When Lucinda Williams calls someone “my new favorite artist and an amazing guitarist”, it’s a good idea to pay attention. Anne McCue’s latest is a showcase of singing, songwriting, and guitar playing excellence, with scorching six-string solos gracing every tune from the barn-stomp opening track “Don’t Go to Texas (Without Me)” — with vocals reminiscent of Lucinda herself, singing over the riff from “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” — to the extended guitar noodling of “The Old Man’s Talkin'”. McCue does more than rock out, though, as slow-burners like “Ol’ Black Sky” and “God’s Home Number” attest. The title track is a sludgy blues rant that manages to sound warmly familiar and entirely new at the same time. That’s the kind of record this is: little starbursts of surprise punctuating well-worn songs that feel as comfortable as a worn flannel shirt. By the time she hits album-closer “Rock and Roll Outlaw”, McCue is declaring, “I’m on my way!” Given the strength of this record, the listener would be be foolish to disagree. Good call, Lucinda.