Amythyst Kiah, Wary + Strange
David Hicks | Published on 8/23/2024
During an evening out at the Crystal Ballroom while looking forward to seeing Iron & Wine, the audience was hijacked by the opening act. Not all of the audience, many seemed to know this performer and all of her songs. They may have even come just to see her. She’s been around for a while, even receiving a Grammy Award nomination for the Best American Roots Song, on the 2019 album, Songs of Our Native Daughters with Rhiannon Giddens, Leyla McCalla, and Allison Russell, for Amythyst Kiah’s song, "Black Myself."
Seeing her perform solo with an acoustic guitar was mesmerizing. Her voice was powerful and assured and displayed a tightly controlled melodic proficiency, and her guitar playing was forceful and adept, matching her vocals with pointed and striking rhythms. The largely (completely?) white audience, myself included, soaked up her songs and responded with wild enthusiasm.
It had been a long time since I’d seen Iron & Wine, dating back to the days of the 2007 album, The Shepard’s Dog, so I wasn’t sure what to expect 17 years later, but thanks to some good friends, tickets were obtained and I was happy to go. In the end, we didn’t finish their show. The solo performance by Amythyst Kiah was so loudly applauded that it overshadowed the performance by the 6 performers on stage supporting Iron & Wine, aka Samuel Irvin Beam. And it wasn’t that I&W didn’t receive applause, it’s just that they were less vocal and loud than the cheering that greeted Ms. Kiah’s songs, and that, despite the crowd having swelled by the time I&W came on the stage to play.
So, back to the Wary + Strange album. One of the things that made AKs performance so energizing was, as mentioned, the power of her solo performance. That power is missing in some of the songs on the Wary + Strange album and replaced with additional artists' instrumentation. I think it works on the song "Black Myself", though for me the song takes on a bit of a pop flavor at the same time it loses some of the biting personal delivery from Amythyst Kiah’s solo performance. On the other hand, I prefer hearing the track, "Tender Organs" with the addition of the electric guitar which swells the sound and adds an emotional impact.
Sound and fidelity are excellent throughout as you would expect an album mastered by Bob Ludwig to be. Special mention goes to the 3rd track, "Wild Turkey" which, colored by my memories of her live performance, feels especially personal and revealing, like a moment from her life that has become a core part of her being.
Wary + Strange was produced by Tony Berg and released on Rounder Records in June of 2021, three years after Kiah began work on the album in January 2018. She ended up recording the album three times, with three different producers before being satisfied with the sound.
In Hi-Res on Qobuz: Wary + Strange
Vinyl at all of the usual outlets.