The introduction to “Cheap Wine (And Expensive Conversation)” comes from what sounds like a couple of ukuleles with inaudible whispered conversations behind them. Jon Foreman sings a line, and then Abby Holliday sings one, and they carry on one after the other until the chorus.
Foreman’s voice has lilt of an accent and almost a rasp. Holliday’s voice is a gorgeous thing.
In the verses, her singing has multiple qualities. Its delivery is a musical version of deadpan talking, but in places breaks out into little moments of vibrato that make your breath quicken just for a second when you realize how controlled yet emotionally charged it is. It sounds simple, then all of a sudden ravishing, such as when she sings:
Lock me up inside your arms and shut the door
She is singing relatively low, but then in the choruses she harmonizes right up high, well behind Foreman but adding the beauty again.
The singing is vital on this song, as those ukuleles (and perhaps a countermelody in the choruses on guitar) are all the song is.
And their singing conveys a message that, from a different angle, could be “If You Love Someone Set Them Free” by Sting.
That song is hard in its message and delivery. But this one is nursery rhyme sweet.
The chords being picked on the ukulele are subtly unusual, especially at the end of the choruses. They send you into places where your ears prick up for a second but not enough to detract from that sweetness.
And that sweetness is crucial.
The sentiment being conveyed is summed up perfectly in the lines:
As long as it’s your love that’s binding me
Darling, I don’t want to be set free
Foreman sings that he’s:
Free to be myself
but he chooses to be tied up with someone. He’s free to choose to not be free. And the way that conundrum is presented is such a pleasure to listen to.
Elsewhere he sings:
You can’t buy love but it’ll cost you everything
and:
Maybe free ain’t what I want no more
They know what all this costs and they’re going with it anyway.
In the second verse, the two singers spread out a little, taking two lines each at a time, which you don’t notice that much as a change, but it definitely does something to gently mix things up. Plus there’s a nice nod to Dolly Parton, a quote I remember her saying, and another playfully-rhymed nod to one of her most famous songs.
After the second verse, Holliday’s voice double-tracks for a middle eight and again it showcases the beauty of her voice and that lazy delivery as she sings the lovely sentiment:
Free in your arms
I feel free to be yours
I feel free when you hold onto me freely
The song is filled with great lyrical imagery, the title, the Dolly cameos, different takes on the fact that being with someone and feeling free is a wonderful thing, and an always welcome mention of:
Early morning cups of tea
“Cheap Wine (And Expensive Conversation)” is a pretty and sweetly worthwhile musical interlude for anyone’s day.
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