As a native of Iowa, Susan Werner is from flyover country - and proud of it. The Philadelphia-based singer-songwriter begins her 15th record with "Long Live (My Hometown)," a paean to a place she salutes for its stubborn resiliency and its role in shaping her.
If the small town described sounds a bit romanticized, the album that unfolds presents a richer and more layered picture, as you'd expect from Werner. "Eldorado" and "Barn Dance" are finely wrought recollections of good times, and "Wine Bottles," written with John Gorka, is a tongue-in-cheek country lament.
On the dark side, "Snake Oil" lays out the insidiously seductive appeal of the con, and how it can appeal to folks' basest instincts. "Only Later" acknowledges the terrible secrets that lie beneath a town's Norman Rockwell-esque surface, and "Why Why Why" is a searing recrimination for a personal betrayal.
Meanwhile, "To Be There (A Hymn in Times of Pandemic)" beautifully expresses the longing for renewed communion after all this social distancing. "In Lieu of Flowers" addresses the loss of loved ones but manages to close the album on an uplifting note by offering a balm.
"Flyover Country" was produced by Philadelphia's Mike "Slo-Mo" Brenner, who frames Werner's folk-based narratives with crisp arrangements, featuring his own Dobro and lap steel, that reinforce the emotional thrust of her plainspoken eloquence.