Album Review: Elizabeth Cook — Gospel Plow

Whether you spend Sunday mornings in a church pew or in a Waffle House booth self-medicating a hangover, Elizabeth Cook’s got a record for you.

Inspired by a 2011 performance at the Strawberry Music Festival’s gospel brunch and influenced by the recent passing of her father, the subject matter of her new spiritual EP is somewhat of a departure from her previous albums, which include songs like “Yes to Booty” and “Heroin Addict Sister.” However, the sound is pure Cook: a little sweet, a little sassy, and a lot country, only this time, it’s bolstered with a bit of church organ.

“If I Had My Way, I’d Tear This Building Down,” the EP’s standout track, is straight out of a revival meeting, an a cappella number that begs the listener to clap and sing along with Cook and her backing vocalists. Her tender version of “The Other Side of Life” — perhaps the loveliest version since Vern Gosdin’s recording — is reminiscent of a young Dolly Parton and her early ‘70s single “When I Sing for Him,” before she turns a musical 180 on the following track, a deliciously twangy take on “Hear Jerusalem Calling” anchored by banjo and Telecaster. A moving cover of The Velvet Underground’s “Jesus” rounds out the album. Hardly a Sunday morning standard, but Cook sure makes it sound like one as she pleads “Jesus, let me find my proper place/Help me in my weakness, ‘cause I’m falling out of grace.”

Clocking in at under twenty minutes, Gospel Plow will leave more than a few listeners praying for Cook to release a full-length gospel album in the future. Until then, we’ll always have Waffle House.

Preview or purchase Gospel Plow