Amy Speace Learns Not To Fear The Killer In Her (A CD Review)

Like many musicians before her, Amy Speace left her family, her friends, and her home to write her new album, "The Killer In Me." She left, it seems, not to escape the pain in her life, or to avoid distraction, but to absorb her feelings and transform them. This emotional osmosis drew her pain out and allowed her, as she says, "to write the things the you're afraid to say out loud." Amy's songs break through that fear not only in her mind but also in ours. She is not a simple song writer and "The Killer In Me" is not an easy listen. The cryptic meanings of her lyrics are not immediately clear and demand time to absorb their poetry. This album conjures the loneliness, sadness, and helplessness that we all sometimes feel and tempers those twisting emotions with those of hope and love.

For this album, Amy enlists guitarist and producer James Mastro who brings a psychedelic-rock touch to the sound. His production skills mixed with Amy's song-writing ability make this album special. Songs like "This Love" and "Haven't Learned a Thing," are beautifully woven pieces. The ghostly track, "Weight of the World" shows Amy's ability to sew lyrical melody to instrumental sensibility giving this song an almost programmatic feel; as if the instruments are acting out her story each time they plays the song. Other songs like "Something More Than Rain," "Piece By Piece," and the visionary "Blue Horizon" and true poetic treasures and "Dirty Little Secret" shakes the soul with controversy and depth.

This latest offering is a departure from Amy's previous album, "Songs For Bright Street." Where this album occupies an acoustic-folk sensibility, "The Killer In Me" rocks out and experiments with ethereal and psychedelic timbres exhibited in the songs "Storm Warning" and "Better". Overall, Amy's latest work offers a complex intimacy that was largely absent in its direct and spontaneous predecessor.

Amy Speace has certainly taken a turn on the rock and roll boulevard but Amy doesn't forsake her roots. Songs like "Would I Lie" and "I Met My Love" (featuring the voice of Ian Hunter, who also appears on the title track), are infused with genuine country and folk sounds. With "The Killer In Me" Amy shows us all the color of her heart, a heart shrouded in blue.

Buy 'The Killer In Me' CD - http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/amyspeace4

Review by Nicholas Guida, MusicDish e-Journal

Amy Speace's Official Website - http://www.amyspeace.com
Amy Speace Fan Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/SpeaceCorps
Amy Speace facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/amyspeacemusic