Review: Folk Star Dar Williams Returns With Her First Album In Six Years

: by Joe Sharratt; in Reviews; on 15 October 2021

New England folk singer and songwriter Dar Williams made her full debut with The Honesty Room way back in 1993, and in the years since has earned comparisons with the likes of Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez (who helped launch her career, but more on that later). Williams has won a loyal following for her insightful, gentle, but powerful songwriting and voice. And somehow, she’s also found the time to write, including two young-adult novels and a green blog for Huffpost, conduct songwriting workshops, and complete her urban-planning study, published in 2017: What I Found in a Thousand Towns: A Traveling Musician’s Guide to Rebuilding America's Communities — One Coffee Shop, Dog Run & Open-Mike Night at a Time.

I’ll Meet You Here, her first album in six years, feels like an amalgamation of all of these strands, and more. It’s the sort of album that connects stories, unifies it’s assembled songs into a wider, broader feeling, an outlook almost. And that sense is, despite the difficulties of the last two years during which the album was written and recorded, an overwhelmingly optimistic and positive one.

Little Town is perhaps the track that most embodies this spirit, sitting at the core of I’ll Meet You Here like it’s beating heart. On the face of it, it’s a somewhat maudlin tale of a decaying town, but William’s does so much more with it, weaving a narrative of two mayors who knew they needed to embrace change to save their towns. It’s a glorious piece of storytelling (“He said this town, for all its pride, it's been dying from inside / And we've got to find our way / We'll start with Independence Day”).

On her official website, Williams explores the song’s themes. “These mayors, who looked at new immigrant populations as a gift and went the extra mile to translate that to their old buddies, were very moving to me,” she explains. “The fact that the mayors said, ‘You can wrap your mind around this; this is exactly what we're all about,’ was not only something interesting, it’s something I've seen.”

Elsewhere, Williams explores some big themes, such as on new single Today And Every Day which tackles climate change, but even here there’s reasons to be cheerful. Musically, the song is a delightful affair, a sweet skipping melody layered with intricate guitar and a joyous chorus. Even the song’s video – a wonderful stop-motion treat created by fellow musician Antje Duveko – paints a message of optimism. As Williams sings: “I know I'm gonna find a way / I know I'm gonna light the way / 'Cause if I'm ever gonna make it then I gotta say / I can save the world today and every day”.

Nestled in amongst fine numbers such as album opener Time, Be My Friend and the brass flourish that announces You Give It All Away, Williams has also included a cover on I’ll Meet You Here. Sullivan Lane, by Joziah Longo of folk-rock band Slambovian Circus of Dreams, who coincidentally are neighbours of Williams’, is a charming poppy track, and a clever inclusion, landing as it does before the album’s closer You’re Ageing Well.

That song is one that carries a huge amount of meaning for Williams. It originally featured on her debut album, only for Baez herself to hear it be impressed enough that she invited Williams to record a version with her, and join her on her then upcoming US and European tours, invites that gave Williams her big break.

“I’m the same age now that she was when she took me on the road,” Williams explains on her official website. “On this version, she meshes her elegant soprano with Roberts’ [Bryn Roberts, who plays piano on the album] beautiful piano playing, contrasting her delicate singing with her forceful push against conventional expectations for women. When she finally rejects them and finds her own voice, she revels in its power.”

It’s a beautiful bookend for I’ll Meet You Here, a clever nod to the past and the adventures Williams has been on, and a suitable dedication to the power of optimism that runs through her music.

I’ll Meet You Here tracklist: