Cheryl Wheeler, Defying Gravity - 44m 11s

Tracks & Durations

1. Since You've Been Gone	4:08
2. Little Road	3:34
3. Must Be Sinking Now	4:14
4. Beyond the Lights	4:18
5. Summer's Almost Over	3:07
6. Defying Gravity	2:56
7. Clearwater, Florida	1:13
8. Here Comes Floyd	2:29
9. Alice	3:52
10. This is Me	5:08
11. It's The Phone	2:04
12. On The Plane	3:20
13. Blessed	3:41

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Review

Few folk albums indulge in mood swings more severe than the ones on Defying Gravity. "A woman my age, sittin' here cryin'" are the first words Cheryl Wheeler sings on her first album of new material in six years. During the next four older-but-sadder songs, bittersweet is as chipper as it gets. Even the comparatively sunny "Summer's Almost Over" finds the veteran troubadour confiding "I'm crying but I don't know why." But then comes the Caribbean lilt of the title track--written by Jesse Winchester--and the mood lightens, as the instrumental "Clearwater, Florida," and the jazzy syncopation of "Here Come Floyd" continue to chase the clouds away. By the time the album shifts into a couple of live tracks of Wheeler regaling the audience with the cell-phone absurdities of "It's the Phone" and the travails of air travel in "On the Plane," she has her crowd on the verge of tears of laughter. As the reflective "Alice" and redemptive "Blessed" attest, Wheeler is a folksinger for all emotional seasons. --Don McLeeseWith six years having past since Wheeler's last full-length studio collection (1999's Sylvia Hotel), the much-anticipated Defying Gravity overflows with a wealth of exquisitely crafted, powerfully resonant original songs. While her compositions have been recorded by artists as diverse as Suzy Bogguss, Garth Brooks, Bette Midler, and Linda Thompson, Wheeler's burnished alto, nimble guitar playing, and sly sense of humor insure that she will always be her own best interpreter. Standout tracks on Defying Gravity, like the bittersweet "Summer's Almost Over," the aching opener "Since You've Been Gone," and the careful character study "Alice," are defined equally by Wheeler's gifts as a writer and performer. "On the Plane" and "It's the Phone," both recorded live in concert at the now-defunct Bottom Line in New York City, are priceless examples of Wheeler the satirist. Taken as a whole, Defying Gravity paints a portrait of a performer and composer continuing to discover rewarding new avenues in her finely-developed craft.

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