Mortal City (Razor and Tie)

After the critical raves and folk-circuit popularity of last year's Honesty Room, it looked like Dar Williams had nowhere to go but down. But appearances can be deceiving -- especially since Mortal City surpasses the quality of Williams' first effort. The themes are basically identical -- same car, different road -- only this time, the car is running smoother and faster. The gentle irony of "When I Was a Boy" has been transformed into the blunt bitterness of "As Cool as I Am." Passive longing is jettisoned for aggressive action in the battle for gender equality. A passive-aggressive lover is verbally bludgeoned by the album's most profound line: "I will not be afraid of women." Most of the songs here have strong, yet slightly slower, paler predecessors on album one. "February" has its roots in "This Is Not the House That Pain Built"; "Iowa," has two older cousins; and the album's title cut can be paired with "Mark Rothko Song," to name a few. But Williams has also expanded her thinking this time out, and there's a definite maturation process at work in her music. And as Williams moves onto different themes and instrumental experimentation, I'm sure she'll reveal a lot more up that long sleeve of hers. Brace yourself.
4 stars -- Joe Mitchell