Highway

"The Highway is singer/songwriter Holly Williams' first recording in over four years ... Working with Grammy-winning producer Charlie Peacock (Civil Wars), Williams wrote or co-wrote everything here. She hasn't made any remarkable stylistic changes; her songs are still rooted deeply in Americana and country rock, and her poignancy as a songwriter is sharp as ever - check "Gone Away from Me," with Jackson Browne on backing vocals. What is different is the sense of spaciousness and less-is-more aesthetic at play here. That's not to say her previous two albums were steeped in excess, but she and Peacock understand that the organic sound of musical instruments is enough to support her throaty, often mournful contralto".

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"The Highway is very much evolution rather than revolution for Williams. For better and worse, the album is in most respects a continuation of the direction she set on her first two albums, although there is perhaps more of an expansive country flavour here than previously ... Williams might be shooting for simple, earnest truths with many of these songs, but this is territory that has been mined so heavily over the years that it takes something really special to pull it off. Williams has a pleasant, listenable singing voice, with a soft twang that at times sounds like a female version of Ryan Adams. But, while her voice is adaptable, it doesn't have enormous character or range and doesn't have the special level of purity, richness or interesting rough edges needed to carry really simple songs on its own".

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