Rating: NN
Make it through Telling Stories without dropping into a deep, deep sleep and you should consider yourself unlucky. A good rest may be all Tracy Chapman’s latest disc inspires.
Good times have apparently not hit Chapman. Telling Stories is a snoozer, even by her typically morose standards. The polite addition of uillean pipes, pedal steel, Emmylou Harris and occasional triphop beats (no joke) to the painfully earnest folk strummings are nice touches but hardly enough to keep things interesting. The lack of energy here makes the Tindersticks sound hyperactive, and despite Chapman’s feel-good lyrics about fighting injustice, it’s hard to imagine a limper cry to battle.
