The sophomore solo effort from the soulful New Zealand-based singer/songwriter,
Make Way for Love dials back on the genre-hopping tendencies of
Williams' 2015 debut in favor of a more streamlined -- though no less emotionally charged -- set of heavy-hearted retro-pop ruminations. Written in the wake of a breakup with fellow Kiwi crooner
Aldous Harding, the 11-track set is awash in post-midnight reverb and spilling over with the myopic despondency of heartbreak. In jettisoning the frequent forays into bluegrass and country that dominated his debut,
Williams has honed in on his greatest strength, which is his commanding voice -- it invokes names like
Richard Hawley,
Porter Wagoner,
Chris Isaak,
Lee Hazlewood, and
Roy Orbison. The latter looms large throughout, especially on dusty jukebox weepers like "Come to Me," the lush and lonesome title track, and the powerful "Nobody Gets What They Want Anymore," the latter of which is a duet recorded with
Harding post-breakup. The semi-raucous "Party Boy," a highway-ready '50s-style rave-up, attempts to inject a bit of sonic levity into the proceedings -- there's a fun "Telstar"-esque Farfisa moment that occurs about halfway in -- but it's no less mired in darkness than what preceded it. Heartache is likely the most mined substance in all of pop music, but
Williams applies such panache to the material that it's hard not to get wrapped up in all of the delicious melodrama. Had he released
Make Way for Love prior to the filming of
David Lynch's 2017 return to Twin Peaks, he most surely would have been booked at the Roadhouse. ~ James Christopher Monger