One of the most abiding memories of my teenage years was catching Rita Coolidge and her then husband-to-be Kris Kristofferson on the British television music show The Old Grey Whistle Test duetting on his sublime country ballad ‘Help Me Make Through The Night’. Their performance late that night oozed barely suppressed carnal desire and what was clearly a deep, deep love for each other.
Now more than 45 years further on down the line on what is now her 18th solo album, Safe in the Arms of Time, Rita Coolidge proves that she has clearly lost none of that emotional intensity and its attendant passion. And love is still the key to her new record.
Rita Coolidge had already committed to recording her first album of new material since 2005 when she reconnected with her college sweetheart a couple of years back. And it is this reunion that set the tone for Safe in the Arms of Time. With producer Ross Hogarth and a stellar line-up of top musicians – guitarist Dave Grissom, keyboardist John “J.T.” Thomas, and Bob Glaub and Brian MacLeod on their respective bass guitar and drums – they all got together at L.A.’s famous Sunset Sound recording studio where Coolidge had cut her first solo albums on A&M Records almost half a century beforehand.
And alongside the record’s central theme of love being all around us, it is this sense of homecoming that also permeates Safe in the Arms of Time. Despite some of the heartbreak Rita Coolidge has faced in her life – not least the murder of her sister, and songwriting partner Priscilla in 2014 – here she sounds in fine voice, relaxed, happy and as the album’s title suggests, settled and secure.
Continuing to lead from the front, three of the dozen songs on Safe in the Arms of Time are co-written by Rita Coolidge. Of the remainder she has drawn on significant contributions from, amongst others, the award-winning Nashville country star Chris Stapleton (who co-wrote the album’s resounding opener ‘Satisfied’) and long-time friend Graham Nash whose ‘Doing Fine Without You’ (penned jointly with Russell Kunkel) was to be the catalyst with which the wheels of the new record were firmly set in motion.
Both of these songs see Rita Coolidge shift well away from the safer adult-oriented music that had characterised much of her later recording career and head towards a less polished, far more organic sound. Repeated listens to Safe in the Arms Of Time leaves you with the strong feeling that Coolidge has finally gone right back to her roots, to a place where she clearly wants to be and undoubtedly belongs.
Safe in the Arms of Time will be released on the 4th of May via Blue Élan Records.
