The Metropolitan Hotel (Music CD) Chely Wright

THE METROPOLITAN HOTEL

Chely Wright has had an interesting, if somewhat uneven career. The transplanted Nashvillian attained a moderate level of success but never really broke through in an artistic sense. The pretty brunette is out to change all that with her latest album The Metropolitan Hotel, a 12 song collection that is a hardcore singer/songwriter project.

After being spit out by the Nashville major-label machine a couple years back, Wright took some time off to reflect. The time was well spent. The Metropolitan Hotel is by far the singer's best album to date. Wright sheds her slick model image and pours out her heart on well-crafted cuts like "I Got Him Ready For You" and the six-and-half minute "The River." The latter, a percussive, organ spotted number with sparse instrumentation, is a haunting tale of lives lived and lost on the banks of a small town river. Guest vocalist Vince Gill's high lonesome moan underscores Wright's powerful narrative.

"It's The Song," an acoustic gem about the rigors and reasons for a life lived out on the road, seems to fit Wright's current state of mind. "Back Of The Bottom Drawer" is another masterstroke. Wright and co-writer Liz Rose open the dresser drawer of a happily married woman to reveal the things she keeps hidden there. Whether it's a Dear Jane letter, a stolen key from an old hotel, or a cork from a cheap bottle of champagne, the woman hangs onto each item as a reminder of who she was and who she is. "Just The Way We Do It" is a Keith Urban-esque ditty about one couple's recipe for making it work.

"The Bumper Of My S.U.V.," written after a woman in traffic gave Chely the universal signal for 'screw you', has received quite a bit of media attention. Wright sings about a sticker on her vehicle that offers support to American troops and the reaction it elicited from one fellow suburbanite. The sparsely produced "Between A Mother And A Child" shines a light on divorce and the effect it has on children. A lightly fingered piano and weeping string section are welded seamlessly to a painful set of lyrics. "Southside Of Lonesome" is a sad-sack number made even more mournful by guitarist Jeff King's stinging leads.

The Metropolitan Hotel is not without its flaws. A cover of Chuck Berry's barreling "C'est La Vie (You Never Can Tell)" sounds a bit out of place with the rest of the album's deep material. All in all, though, Wright has made a career record, a disc that will be treasured and still around long after her other albums have gone out of print. This is one hotel worth checking into.

By Todd Sterling