The transparency bit: I have not been paid to write this review, I volunteered because of what I have read about Brandi Carlile. I did receive a free download of the new album, Give Up the Ghost, for reviewing, and will enter my blog post in a drawing to win a gift card. I don't even know a gift card for what, I just wanted to do this. I even save it for a Thursday, traditionally, my biggest readership day.
When One2One Network sent out a mailing asking for people to do a review of the new Brandi Carlile album, I learned that she picked up a guitar for the first time after seeing Indigo Girls at Lilith Fair one year.
In 1989, I first saw Indigo Girls when they opened for REM at Cobo Hall. The next day I went to my favorite music store, Repeat the Beat in Dearborn, MI, to find a copy. I HAD to have it. I was the fifth or sixth request that day, and added my name to the list, thus beginning my love affair with Amy and Emily.
How could I say "No" to a chance to review the music of someone who was so moved by one of my favorite artists that she learned guitar and started writing songs?
So, you can imagine I was expecting Brandi to sound a lot like her inspiration, and the influence is there, but there's so much more.
Listening to Give Up the Ghost, I heard Bruce Springsteen, and Paul Simon, Sarah McLachlan, and Paul McCartney. Just a few obscure artists who never made much of themselves.
The opening cut is "Looking Out," and the vocal on this song is so rich, so soulful, that it moved me. other tracks, like "That Year," contrast to show her range, which is impressive. She's not k.d. lang smooth, there's more character, less hint of formal training.
In "Touching the Ground," she shows a little of Springsteen's rumble and roughness both vocally and in the spare acoustic arrangement. Add some sweet harmonies, and a little emphasis from the piano and the picture is complete.
Early McCartney solo work is echoed in "Oh Dear," a little ukelele number she does, that could have been on Ram or McCartney One. And if you don't hear Simon and Garfunkel in Dying Day (think "America" or "Kathy's Song"), you aren't listening hard enough.
Although musically my favorite is a jaunty little shuffle called "Caroline," my favorite lyric was in "Pride and Joy":
It was on a day I can't recall
The kind of thing that takes its toll
Over you, over time, over smiles, over wine.
All in all it wasn't bad. All in all it wasn't good.
But I still care.
That's the problem with the days
They're never long enough to say
What it is you never say
All the books you never read, Throw myself into the wind
Hoping somebody might pick me up
And carry me again.
I am really enjoying this album, and not least because I love to sing along. I am giving this one all five stars. Pick this one up. Brandi Carlile has so much going on, it's like bringing home the whole store.
Brandi’s Website: http://bit.ly/O2O_BC
Brandi’s Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/brandicarlile
