Another Country is an album of introspection and inspiration that came about, as Tift Merritt tells it from the stage, from a need for a change of scenery and a Google search of “Paris,” “piano,” “rental” and “flat” that led her to the City of Lights. Her extended sojourn brought with it cultural immersion, the kind of self-discovery born out of intentional displacement and a great deal of songwriting and musing on said piano. The experience was the genesis of what is easily Merritt’s most personal album to date and a real grower, if you will, in terms of the rewards yielded from repeated listens.
As attractive as her two albums for the Lost Highway label were, some sense lingers that Merritt was making a record someone wanted her to make ever so slightly more so than the one she wanted to make. Bramble Rose (2002) is more of a straight-up singer-songwriter effort that parked her somewhere in Lucinda Williams’ neighborhood, whereas the easily likable Tambourine felt as if producer George Drakoulias had convinced Merritt to record the sequel to his 1993 production of Maria McKee’s roots-rocking You Gotta Sin To Get Saved.
To his credit, Drakoulias pulls way back on the reins here, with lighter hues and a gossamer touch that suit Merritt’s tender vocal performances. The sweet southern soul of “I Know What I’m Looking For Now” might have been belted on Tambourine; here it’s a gentle breeze, and when Merritt sings its title, you feel just how much she means it. Such restraint is the album’s most arresting quality, from the vocal transparency in the passionate closing Merritt builds to on “Morning Is My Destination” (love those perfectly applied organ flourishes, too) to the plaintive and stripped-down “Keep You Happy”, which belies its title. No song is sung more beautifully than the title track, which spins foreign soil into a metaphor for emotional vulnerability.
The album-closing “Mille Tendresses” pays homage to Paris as Merritt sings about what’s hidden inside “a thousand tendernesses.” Even in French, its emotion, like the rest of the album, comes through quiet and clear.
