Take It Like a Man
Take It Like a Man lets Amanda Shires move freely between country songwriting, pop arrangements and soul. The production gives her plenty of space to change direction, while the high, quivering character of her voice keeps the songs connected. It is an album concerned with confidence and vulnerability, and the larger sound gives both feelings room to develop.
Hawk For The Dove announces the change with a darker, harder attack. Guitar and an overdriven fiddle bring a rough edge around the vocal, giving the opening a tension that reaches beyond a conventional roots arrangement. Shires sounds willing to confront uncomfortable feelings rather than soften them into a more familiar country shape.
The title track makes a different kind of statement. Sweeping strings support its account of facing pressure and finding a way through it. The arrangement is broad, but the personal character of the singing keeps the song from becoming a simple display of power. The confidence feels connected to the uncertainty around it.
Empty Cups and Fault Lines take that openness into relationships under strain. Maren Morris adds a vocal contribution to Empty Cups, while Fault Lines gives its difficult admission a direct setting. Neither song needs a neat resolution to be effective. The writing allows the attraction, disappointment and responsibility within a relationship to remain close together.
The musical changes are just as important. Stupid Love draws on the warmth of older soul music, and Here He Comes brings a more playful pop movement. Lonely At Night uses an orchestrated ballad setting to show another side of the voice. Everything Has Its Time closes with touches of gospel, offering a different colour without pretending that every problem has been solved.
The record asks for an interest in Shires' voice and the emotional intensity of the material. Its broad ballads and pop direction move beyond the more traditional country settings that might be expected from a fiddle player. That freedom is also a major strength. Producer Lawrence Rothman gives the performances size without letting the arrangements swallow the songs. Take It Like a Man works because the changes in sound follow the feelings in the writing, making an ambitious record remain clear, personal and easy to connect with.
