REVIEW: Val Storey — Share Your Secrets with Me (LP)
I applaud how Nashville-based vocalist and songwriter Val Storey has upended expectations while still being true to her roots. I also cheer on her perseverance in the face of life’s challenges. She refuses to be hemmed in by stylistic expectations in her work; there’s ample evidence of this on her new album Share Your Secrets with Me as she sounds as comfortable covering Emmylou Harris as she does breathing new life into classic Beatles material.
ABOUT THE ARTIST: https://valstoreysings.com/
It is infused with personal strength. A deep reservoir of personal strength is necessary for a singer who overcame the repercussions of a potentially deadly motorcycle accident during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. She returned to performing with renewed vigor and appreciation for her gifts. We hear that vigor and appreciation manifest itself at every turn on her new thirteen-song collection.
Produced by legendary Nashville figure Larry Cordle, Storey follows her Muse wherever she may lead. The trajectory of the new album guides listeners through a tour in miniature of 20th-century music with nods to diverse songwriting talents such as Hoagy Carmichael, Emmylou Harris, and Nanci Griffith, among others.
It opens with the glimmering Larry Cordle written track “Songbird”. The crystalline beauty of Storey’s voice is an ideal vehicle for conveying the song’s evocative details and there’s scattered double tracking of her vocals accentuating its beauty. There is an assortment of customary elements in play. Fiddle and mandolin are key components of the song, but she peppers the track with small surprises as well.
Pedal steel guitar, piano, and tasteful electric guitar coalesce together in a delicate cover of Nanci Griffith’s “Love at the Five and Dime”. The careful crafting of this performance does not dilute its emotional impact as Storey invests her interpretation with layers of vocal elegance. Country legend Ricky Skaggs joins Storey for this performance. Storey shares songwriting credits for “Slow and Sad” with Larry Cordle and Larry Shell and it’s a doozy. It has a slight torch song feel and benefits, as well, from orchestral overtones thanks to the presence of strings filling out the song.
“Old Heartaches” is another track from the pen of Cordle/Shell. It has a classic country music vibe, both lyrically and sonically, and has a timeless quality that sounds modern yet retro at the same time. Storey and her collaborators aren’t attempting to remake the wheel with songs such as this, but they do a fantastic job of pouring old wine into new bottles. She recasts The Beatles’ “I’ve Just Seen a Face” as an up-tempo bluegrass gem and it’s arguably the finest evidence of her interpretive talents on this release. She does fantastic work conveying the breathless desire of the lyrics in her own fashion without ever leaning too much on The Beatles’ original.
Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer’s “Skylark” arguably elicits her most towering vocal on the release. Coming on the heels of The Beatles cover, it’s an astonishing complete turnaround that she executes with impressive ease. Another memorable reinvention arrives with her cover of Emmylou Harris’ “Boulder to Birmingham”. She has a different vocal character than Harris, though not radically so, and largely approaches it along the same lines as her esteemed predecessor. Storey, however, embraces a more elegiac touch than Harris, a crucial distinction. It’s one of the undisputed highlights of an album that doesn’t miss. Val Storey’s Share Your Secrets with Me is an outright triumph and harbingers even greater victories to come.
Colin Jordan
