by Thom JurekEliza Gilkyson has always been a socially and spiritually conscious, if not overtly political, songwriter, and 2004's pre-election Land of Milk and Honey and 2005's post-election lament Paradise Hotel were meditations on hope, change, and righteous anger. Beautiful World appears in an election year, but the viewpoint is different: Gilkyson rises from the place of disappointment and grief to equanimity. With her road band and guests who include John Inmon, Cindy Cashdollar, David Grissom, Julie Wolf, and her brother Tony, Gilkyson pursues a path that is alternately confessional, grieving, hopeful (rather than optimistic), confused, broken, and compassionate. She invokes a diverse array of sounds, styles, and textures that move this set out from the predictable tropes of contemporary folk-jazz, roots rock, and even slinky keyboard affected ballads. Her new songs find beauty in some of the most unlikely places. What better way to begin a "political" album than with a love song? It's not ironic; it's revolutionary. Led by a fingerpicked National Steel, she sings above her band: "...Whole world's goin' up in smoke/Hard times comin', I ain't jokin'/Just tryin' to keep my heart wide open/...Feel like a kid from the inside out/All because I'm in love...." Horns walk the line between mariachi and Memphis soul, and accompany Gilkyson's delicate yet grainy voice. The song's radical notion is that love is always possible, and can survive anything. The poetic "Wildewood Spring" reflects weariness and the desire for rest along with its "urban survivors," "West Texas grads," "rednecks," and "hippies." She finds herself coming away with the courage of love rather than relaxation: "I remember the first time I knew I could love him/And this would be more than a vow and a ring/With the last rays of hope and the blue sky above him/He flung himself into the Wildewood Spring...."... Read More...