On Rosanne Cash's final recording for Columbia's Nashville division she
pulled out all the stops. Already known for her unflinching honesty, she
took it to its most poignant and searing extreme on Interiors. Cash produced
the record herself and wrote or co-wrote all the material here. A country
record it's not, but that hardly matters. This is a pop record with teeth
and ache and broken hearts strewn all over the place. In fact, Interiors
has the feel of a battlefield emptied of everything but its ghosts. The
album is a collection of ten songs linked thematically by the chronicling
of the tension, dysfunction, and ultimate dissolution of Cash's marriage
to Rodney Crowell caused by dishonesty, infidelity, substance abuse, and
physical distance; and she owns her side of the street with courage without
laying blame. Carefully wrought with subtle instrumentation surrounding
her fearless yet wavering vocals. Acoustic guitars, pianos, brushed drums,
an occasional organ, a bass almost hidden under layers of ethereal grace
-- these are the musical trappings that frame Cash's voice as she sets
about a task so seemingly painful it's almost uncomfortable to listen
to. It's as if the listener is granted a private audience with her heart
and innermost thoughts. Everything is here: the disillusionment, the anger,
the vain hope of reconciliation, and finally the acceptance and resignation
that endings are a part of life and serve their purpose. While these ten
tracks are virtually inseparable from one another, there are standouts
such as "Dance With the Tiger" written with John Stewart, "Real
Woman" written with Crowell, "Mirror Image," "I Want
a Cure," and the harrowing closer, "Paralyzed," where Cash
is accompanied only by a piano. Here she lets her current position be
known, that seeing the end of this relationship leaves her in the clutches
of being unable to move from the emotional space she is in. This album
is full of a truth that most would rather not acknowledge, but it is morally
and spiritually instructive in terms of its lyrical content, and musically
it is her masterpiece. In fact, it's proof that art can redeem what cannot
be in human terms.
(by Thom Jurek, All
Music Guide)
|