''Promised Land'' is the seventh album by

Dar Williams Dorothy Snowden "Dar" Williams (born April 19, 1967) is an American pop folk singer-songwriter from Mount Kisco, New York. Hendrik Hertzberg of ''The New Yorker'' has described Williams as "one of America's very best singer-songwriters." She ...

, released on September 9, 2008, on

Razor & Tie Razor & Tie was an American entertainment company that consisted of a record label and a music publishing company. It was established in 1990 by Craig Balsam and Cliff Chenfeld. Based in New York City (with additional offices in Los Angeles and ...

. It was her first

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

in three years.

Reception

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...

'' called ''Promised Land'' "perhaps her strongest start-to-finish album since 1996's ''

Mortal City ''Mortal City'' is Dar Williams' second album, released in January 1996 by Razor & Tie. The songs "As Cool as I Am" and "The Christians and the Pagans" were released as singles in 1996; the former was also accompanied by a music video. Unlike ...

''. A review from ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' said the album "lacks any musical growth" though a "newcomer to her music might appreciate the tunes." The album entered the ''Billboard'' 200 album chart at #95, making it the highest-charting album of her career.

Track listing

All songs are written by Dar Williams if not noted otherwise. #"It's Alright" – 3:27 #"Book of Love" (Dar Williams,

Lara Meyerratken Lara Meyerratken is an Australian multi-instrumentalist musician and composer who currently resides in Los Angeles, California. Meyerratken is most commonly associated with her longtime collaborator Ben Lee. Meyerratken is a notable session music ...

) – 3:34 #"The Easy Way" – 3:31 #"The Tide Falls Away" (Dar Williams,

Gary Louris Gary Michael Louris (born March 10, 1955) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter of alternative country and pop music. He was a founding member of the Minneapolis-based band the Jayhawks and their principal songwriter and vocalist a ...

) – 2:46 #"Buzzer" – 2:57 #"The Business of Things" – 2:31 #"You Are Everyone" – 4:30 #"Go to the Woods" – 2:54 #"Holly Tree" – 4:13 #"Troubled Times" (

Adam Schlesinger Adam Lyons Schlesinger (October 31, 1967 – April 1, 2020) was an American musician, songwriter, composer, and record producer. He was a founding member of the bands Fountains of Wayne, Ivy, and Tinted Windows, and was also a member of the ban ...

Chris Collingwood Chris Collingwood (born October 3, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, and artist. He is best known as the lead vocalist and founding member of the power pop band Fountains of Wayne. Early life and education Collingwood was born on October ...

) – 3:34 #" Midnight Radio" (

Stephen Trask Stephen Trask (born Stephen R. Schwartz; born August 29, 1966) is an American musician and composer who graduated from Wesleyan University. He was the music director and house band member at the New York City club Squeezebox, where they performe ...

) – 4:27 #"Summerday" (Dar Williams,

Rob Hyman Robert Andrew Hyman (born April 24, 1950) is an American singer, songwriter, keyboard and accordion player, producer, and arranger, best known for being a founding member of the rock band the Hooters. Early life Hyman started taking piano lesso ...

) – 3:22 The song "Buzzer" was inspired by the

Milgram experiment Beginning on August 7, 1961, a series of social psychology experiments were conducted by Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram, who intended to measure the willingness of study participants to obey an authority figure who instructed the ...

; "Midnight Radio" is a

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of c ...

of a song from ''

Hedwig and the Angry Inch Hedwig and the Angry Inch may refer to: * ''Hedwig and the Angry Inch'' (musical), 1998 ** ''Hedwig and the Angry Inch'' (soundtrack), 1999 * ''Hedwig and the Angry Inch'' (film), 2001 {{disambig ...

'', written by a friend of hers from college.Dar Williams: Time, Tides And Empty Spaces
from the website of

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

Weekend Edition ''Weekend Edition'' is a set of American radio news magazine programs produced and distributed by National Public Radio ( NPR). It is the weekend counterpart to the NPR radio program ''Morning Edition''. It consists of ''Weekend Edition Saturday ...

Sunday "Troubled Times" is a cover of a

Fountains of Wayne Fountains of Wayne is an American Rock music, rock band that formed in New York City in 1995. The band included founding members Chris Collingwood, Adam Schlesinger, Jody Porter, and Brian Young (drummer), Brian Young. They released six album ...

song from that band's 1999 album ''

Utopia Parkway ''Utopia Parkway'' is the second studio album by the American rock band Fountains of Wayne. It was released by Atlantic Records in April 1999. Background The album was written by Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger with the intention of emul ...

''.

References

{{Authority control 2008 albums Dar Williams albums Razor & Tie albums Albums produced by Brad Wood