Eef Barzelay - Bitter Honey

As the promotional sticker on his newest record states, Bitter Honey finds Clem Snide frontman Eef Barzelay armed only with “his voice, words and an acoustic guitar.” Bitter Honey is not only a testament to Barzelay’s talent but to his resourcefulness as well. The earnest singer-songwriter is able to produce far more depth and diversity of sound than such sparse instrumentation might suggest. The album is divided into two parts consisting of five tracks each. The first stanza begins with “Ballad of Bitter Honey,” in which Barzelay narrates the plight of a young woman reduced to making ends meet by dancing suggestively in rap videos. Barzelay makes an intriguing artistic choice by relating this tale in a first-person account from the woman’s point of view. While strange to hear lyrics such as “If I press my breasts together and arch my back just so/I can ask for pretty things” sung by an acoustic guitar-wielding songwriter, Barzelay manages to make the song work quite well. Also featured on the album’s first half are the outstanding cuts “Thanksgiving Waves” and “Well.” Subtitled “Let Us Be Naked,” Bitter Honey’s second half provide a wealth of dissimilar yet remarkable tracks. “Let Us Be Naked” has a timeless feel and describes love as “the most tender illusion.” Harkening back to the glory days of country music, “I Wasn’t Really Drunk” is a humorous vignette in which Barzelay’s narrator attempts to sympathize with another’s drinking habits. “Escape Artist Blues” and “Joy the World” close the album with a great degree of solemnity, especially present in Barzelay’s all-too-brief rendering of the Christmas classic. Reminiscent in some ways of Simon and Garfunkel’s rendition of “Silent Night,” Barzelay replaces the titular joy with gravity. Stripped down to their barest elements, Barzelay’s songs ring with both irony and truth, eschewing the need for frills or gimmicks. Bitter Honey is an important reminder to listeners that sometimes all a songwriter needs to be great are great songs. [www.clemsnide.com]