"I kind of spilled blood all over this project," Amy Speace says of her new album The Killer In Me, which marks a quantum creative leap from the artist's 2006 breakthrough effort Songs For Bright Street. While that release won her widespread critical acclaim and a loyal international fan base, The Killer In Me finds the New York-based singer/songwriter forging into deeper, darker lyrical and musical terrain, borne largely out of relationships gone wrong, then right and wrong again. "This is the record that I needed to make," Speace states. "In many ways, it was the hardest thing I've ever done. And in some ways, it was the easiest. Writing the songs was emotionally difficult, deep and intense--it was kind of an exorcism. But in the end, the songs flowed pretty quickly. You write the things that you're afraid to say out loud."
The Killer In Me's 12 soul-baring new songs maintain the effortless melodic appeal of her prior work, while delivering complex emotional insights that give the album startling intimacy and resonance. "The Killer In Me" chronicles a strangled co-dependent relationship, while "Haven't Learned A Thing" offers absolution for the continuing struggle in the attempt to connect with another and never getting it completely right. "This Love" speaks to the hope and uncertainty that comes with the onset of a new relationship. The album covers more terrain than romantic relationships, closing with "Piece By Piece," written as a prayer to her father, wishing him peace and love after the death of his brother.
Most of the album was written in the rural isolation of a rented cabin in the Catskills after her final separation from her husband. "It was just me, some books, my journals, my guitar and the songs, with no phone and no TV," she explains. "I spent a lot of time reading and hiking and chopping wood for the stove, and wrote the songs that form the emotional center of this album." "The situation," she continues, "forced me to sit with a lot of silence, fear and confusion and make a kind of peace with them by writing songs to keep from going crazy. That's when the album started making sense to me and became a whole different thing. Something shifted when I realized what was going on in the world outside mirrored what was going on inside of me, and I wanted to write songs that bridged that divide."
Speace recorded The Killer In Me with her longtime producer and lead guitarist James Mastro, of Bongos/Health and Happiness Show fame, and her longstanding live band the Tearjerks, comprised of guitarist Rich Feridun, bassist Matt Lindsey and drummer Jagoda. The sessions took place at alt-pop legend Mitch Easter's Fidelitorium studio in North Carolina, with Easter lending his talents as engineer. Also on board is English rock icon Ian Hunter, who adds his distinctive vocals to a pair of songs.
Born in Baltimore and raised in small-town Pennsylvania, Speace initially had her sights set on a career as a playwright/actor, graduating from Amherst College and toured with the prestigious National Shakespeare Company. After moving to New York, she had roles in various off-Broadway productions and independent films, ran her own theater company, and taught Shakespeare in the New York City school system. After teaching herself to play guitar, she began setting her poetry to music, and quickly found songwriting to be the most creatively fulfilling thing she'd ever done. She soon began performing as half of the female duo Edith O. Speace made her solo debut with the 2002 release Fable, recorded with $5000 donated by fans and released on her own Twangirl label. Giving up her hard-won acting career to become a full-time musician, she hopped into her car and hit the road, booking herself into every club, caf and college that would have her. After catching a performance at the SXSW music industry festival, Judy Collins' manager brought Speace to the attention of Collins, who signed her to her Wildflower label. Her debut for the label, Songs For Bright Street, received warm praise from critics, including those in Europe, which has enabled her to build a strong touring base there.
Reflecting on making The Killer In Me, Speace concludes, "I got into music with my eyes wide open, having already been doing something else. I knew that the kind of music I wanted to make might be outside the realm of what's on the radio, but I didn't care. I just wanted to make something that's real. I'm as proud of this album as I am anything I've ever done."
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PRESS QUOTES
Country Standard Time: The kind of singer-songwriter that gives singer-songwriters a very good name, thanks to wit, a way with words, and the willingness to rock.
NPR "Song of the Day": Speace expertly chronicles heartache...on her new album The Killer In Me...sounding twangy and tragic, her velvety, achy voice recalls an early Lucinda Williams. Sounded grounded but wounded, Speace exudes the vulnerability of someone who’s loved and lost.
The Washington Post: "The Killer In Me" is a deep, dark album full of lush, emotive lyrics, masterful acoustic guitar work and just the right mix of percussion to make up-tempo numbers rock just right. What’s arguably most striking about Speace’s latest effort is how her writing makes her personal stories touch the core of anyone who has loved and lost. If you bemoan the lack of solid singer-songwriters in the folk world who can bridge inner turmoil with universal experience, Speace is just what you need to hear.
More Magazine: "Download This" Album of the Month. With her acoustic guitar, poetic lyrics and powerful vocals, this Judy Collins protégée documents the collapse of her marriage and her re-birth as a newly single gal.
PopDose: "The Killer In Me" is truly killer - one of the finest Americana albums to come along in years.
Cleveland Scene: Speace straddles genres like a skilled rodeo rider, bouncing confidently between Americana, roots-rock, country, folk and streaks of pop.
Wildys World: Speace takes a giant step forward with The Killer In Me...the sort of album that vaults an artist into the national consciousness. Writing from an emotionally charged well of creativity with the precision of a surgeon and the artistic voice of a master...Amy Speace is one of the brightest songwriters in popular music, irrespective of genre.
Pennyblack: All the comparisons to Lucinda Williams seem pretty pointless now, with songs of the caliber of "The Killer In Me" where Amy blends a country tune with her soulful vocals, Amy has now reached the point where her latest album is actually better than the last Lucinda produced. [She is] now at the top of her game...and Lucinda and the rest have a new girl to try to better in the future.
The Star-Ledger (NJ): [Speace] will likely increase her following substantially with this album. It's a dark, deeply personal album... Producer-guitarist James Mastro (of the Bongos and the Health and Happiness Show) and engineer Mitch Easter (whose credits include R.E.M. and Pavement) help give the album a rough-edged, roots-rock sound that perfectly complements Speace's unsettling lyrics.
Philadelphia Daily News: Amy Speace revels in her commanding growl on "The Killer in Me." Fans of Melissa Etheridge and the Indigo Girls could connect.
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