About this Artist

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• Interview

Editorial Reviews

Since breaking out of New England's coffeehouse folk scene a decade ago, Dar Williams has been steadfastly committed to musical evolution -- and she continues that tradition on this, perhaps her least straightforwardly "folk" release to date. That's evident from the 12-bar blues structure that envelops "Two Sides of a River," a tune with a powerful-yet-feminine punch reminiscent of Susan Tedeschi's better work. Williams stretches things even further with a cover of Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb" -- an idea that sounds odd on paper but ends up working beautifully, thanks to Dar's own arrangement as well as the harmony vocals added by Ani DiFranco. There are a number of notable cameos on the disc -- Marshall Crenshaw's guitar, for instance, provides a stark backdrop on a version of Neil Young's "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere" -- but none casts a shadow over Williams's vision. That set of ideals -- which can be boiled down, basically, to faith, hope, and charity -- permeates My Better Self to a huge degree, manifesting itself in subtle ways (as on the pay-it-forward allegory "Echoes") and surprisingly unadulterated ones as well (notably the tender spiritual paean "Teens for God"). It's always been easy to turn to Dar Williams for affirmation -- but unlike many of her acoustic guitar–toting peers, it's just as possible to seek her out for a dose of homespun entertainment. David Sprague, Barnes & Noble

Customer Reviews

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