| This Sweet Old World | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Lucinda Williams |
| Cover: | Lucinda Williams - This Sweet Old World.jpg |
| Alt: | A photo of Williams seated in a car, looking back toward the camera |
| Recorded: | 2017 |
| Studio: | Dave's Room, North Hollywood, California, United States |
| Language: | English |
| Prev Title: | The Ghosts of Highway 20 |
| Prev Year: | 2016 |
| Next Title: | Vanished Gardens |
| Next Year: | 2018 |
This Sweet Old World is the 13th studio album by American singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams, released on September 29, 2017, by Highway 20 Records and Thirty Tigers. A re-recording of her 1992 album Sweet Old World, Williams was motivated to revisit the older material by her husband and manager Tom Overby, who co-produced the album with her. The album has received critical acclaim.
Mark Deming of AllMusic Guide gave the album a positive assessment, with the editorial staff ranking it 3.5 out of five stars. Deming calls this release "a genuine improvement" over the famously fraught 1992 album, with his only complaint being the wearing on Williams' voice due to age. Writing for Exclaim!, Mark Dunn gave the album seven out of 10, agreeing that Williams' voice has changed dramatically in the ensuing 25 years but noting that she uses it as an instrument masterfully, pairing it with stripped-down country arrangements, compared to the more pop feel of the 1992 release. George de Stefano of PopMatters gave the release nine out of 10, calling it a "surprising and bold move" and writes that both the re-recordings and the new tracks are "gems". In The San Francisco Chronicle, Joshua Zucker calls the album a document of Williams' musical evolution, with a mix of live energy, emotional lyrics, and rocking sound. In The Independent, Andy Gill recommended several tracks for download and gave the album five out of five stars, summing up: Her voice, meanwhile, has grown into these songs splendidly: it’s amazing how much brazen sensuality she can bring to an image like “Saw you in the laundromat, washing your clothes/Getting all the dirt out”.
On October 21, 2017, This Sweet Old World reached No. 21 on Billboard's Internet Albums chart, No. 57 on the Top Current Albums, No. 6 on Americana/Folk Albums Sales, No. 17 on Rock Album Sales, No. 14 on Independent Albums, and No. 22 on Tastemakers. For the comprehensive Total Album Sales, it topped out at No. 65. The album peaked for one week at No. 101 in the Netherlands.
All tracks written by Lucinda Williams, except where noted.[1]
Additional musicians
Technical personnel
| Peak position | ||
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) | 101 | |
|---|---|---|
| US Folk Albums (Billboard) | 6 | |
| US Independent Albums (Billboard) | 14 | |
| US Rock Albums (Billboard) | 17 | |
| US Tastemakers (Billboard) | 22 |