Take It Like a Man

by Amanda Shires

Overview

For Amanda Shires, the title of Reigning Queen of Americana was hers for the taking after the breakthrough success of her 2016 album My Piece of Land, her partnership with Americana King Jason Isbell as the fiddler in his band the 400 Unit (and also as his spouse), and as founder of the all-female country supergroup the Highwomen. But the stylistic wanderlust of her 2018 album To The Sunset suggested that as smart and well-crafted as her previous work had been, she felt hemmed in by the boundaries of country and its hipper offshoots, and she wanted more creative room to move. With 2022's Take It Like a Man, Shires has given herself all the space she needs to blaze new trails, and it's a bold and compelling new beginning for her. Working with producer Lawrence Rothman, Shires has thrown off nearly all of her country influences, outside of the Dolly Parton-like quaver of her voice (which she's rarely used to better effect), and as a singer and tunesmith, this finds her taking chances and stepping up her game. The opening track "Hawk for the Dove" is gloriously ominous in its minor key menace, Shires' bold confessions of her worst appetites, and a fiddle solo that recalls Neil Young's guitar at its most buzzy and fractured. The song throws down a gauntlet that this isn't what you'd expect from Amanda Shires, and while it's the most confrontational moment on Take It Like A Man, the glorious evocation on 1960s Deep Soul in "Stupid Love," the Bacharach/David echoes of "Lonely at Night," the vintage AM pop strut of "Here He Comes," and the sweet gospel accents of "Everything Has Its Time" leave no doubt that Shires has the talent to do whatever she chooses and make it her own. Lyrically, these songs go back and forth between testaments of inner strength (the title song) to meditations on relationships in free fall ("Fault Lines"), and some unblinking self-examination ("Empty Cups," with a vocal assist from her Highwomen colleague Maren Morris), and her writing is literate, perceptive, and unafraid of what can happen when you explore life's darker shadows. Producer Rothman makes the performances sound big but never bloated, and the accompanists (which include Jason Isbell on guitar, Jimbo Hart on bass, and Peter Levin on keyboards) handle the many moods of these ten songs with aplomb and assurance. Amanda Shires' previous work, on her own and as a collaborator, has long proved she is a major talent, and with Take It Like A Man, she's made a striking, deeply satisfying album that follows no rules other than what her muse has chosen, and it's inarguably her finest work to date. ~ Mark Deming

Product Details

Release Date:	07/29/2022
Label:	Ato
UPC:	0880882469115

Tracks

1. Hawk For The Dove
2. Take It Like A Man
3. Empty Cups
4. Don¿¿¿t Be Alarmed
5. Fault Lines
6. Here He Comes
7. Bad Behavior
8. Stupid Love
9. Lonely At Night
10. Everything Has Its Time

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Amanda Shires   Primary Artist,Fiddle,Vocals,Clapping
Audley Freed   Guitar
Peter Levin   Drums,Organ,Piano,Keyboards
Kris Wilkinson   Viola
Peter Stroud   Guitar
Marc Franklin   Trumpet
Kirk Smothers   Sax (Baritone)
Jason Isbell   Guitar
Art Edmaiston   Sax (Tenor)
Fred Eltringham   Drums,Percussion
Mike Schmelling   Clapping
Kameron Whalum   Trombone
Austin Hoke   Cello
Julian Dorio   Drums,Percussion
Brittney Spencer   Vocals (Background)
Jimbo Hart   Bass
Kristin Weber   Violin
Lawrence Rothman   Piano,Guitar,Clapping,Keyboards,Percussion,Guitar (Acoustic)
Ben Zelico   Keyboards,Mellotron
Breland   Vocals (Background)

Technical Credits

Natalie Hemby   Composer
Peter Levin   Composer
Liz Rose   Composer
Pete Lyman   Mastering,Mastering Engineer
Jason Isbell   Composer
Amanda Shires   Composer,String Arrangements
Anthony Lopez   Mixing
Mike Schmelling   Photography
Daniel Bacigalupi   Assistant
Casey Wasner   Digital Editing
Lisa Barbaris   Management
Ruston Kelly   Composer
Gena Johnson   Engineer,Recording
Diana Walsh   Recording,Assistant Engineer
Lawrence Rothman   Mixing,Composer,Producer,String Arrangements
Yves Rothman   Composer
Ben Zelico   String Arrangements
Will Welch   Creative Director
Louis Remenapp   Engineer,Recording