My Life by Iris DeMent

My Life

Iris DeMent

1994

My Life is a Folk album by Iris DeMent, originally released in 1994. On Gatefold: 13 pressings tracked.

Sound DNA

  • Folk

About

There’s an old-fashioned quality to Iris DeMent’s music that invokes faded photo albums, Sunday church socials and lonely walks through cornfields. The small-town pleasures and tragedies chronicled on <i>My Life</i> (1994) have the feel of timeless folk art. This sophomore release finds Dement painting closely observed portraits drawn from her Arkansas heritage. Her slightly awkward but deeply affecting voice carries a trace of girlish innocence even as she sings of mature heartaches in “Easy’s Getting Harder Every Day” and “You’ve Done Nothing Wrong.” Tunes like “Sweet Is the Melody” and “Childhood Memories” are sentimental without being cloying, thanks to Iris’ undercurrent of wistful humor. Her rendition of Maybelle Carter’s “Troublesome Waters” hearkens back to her roots in old-fashioned gospel. Most memorable of all is the album’s title song, a starkly poetic expression of love and humility that may be DeMent’s finest composition. Producer Jim Rooney rounds up an impressive crew of acoustic folk and country players for these tracks, lending the album a bright veneer without sanding down every rough edge. As guileless and open-hearted as its title implies, <i>My Life</i> is a work of understated brilliance.

via Apple Music

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Tracklist

  1. 1Sweet Is the Melody3:41
  2. 2You've Done Nothing Wrong4:22
  3. 3Calling for You3:18
  4. 4Childhood Memories4:38
  5. 5No Time to Cry6:48
  6. 6Troublesome Waters5:15
  7. 7Mom and Dad's Waltz2:38
  8. 8Easy's Gettin' Harder Every Day5:01
  9. 9The Shores of Jordan3:20
  10. 10My Life3:29

Credits

Performers

13 pressings tracked on Gatefold