http://www.soundthesirens.com/reviews/vanessacarlton-harmonium.phpVanessa Carlton
Harmonium
(A&M)
The girl everyone pegged as a Michelle Branch wannabe has taken her own route to success, rising to popularity by way of piano and vocal melody. Vanessa Carlton’s second, more mature album, Harmonium, follows the radio-ridden singles from Be Not Nobody and reflects on the period after making her way down town. That is to say, this second album is more reminiscent and poignant than her first pop-littered entrance.
The distinctive single from Harmonium is “White Houses,” and from how Vanessa Carlton is cast in the music business, listeners may be content with the continuity in style of her first album. However, keep listening and it’s soon apparent that there are deeper and more meaningful undertones within the words underneath the infectious melodies. Clearly, this album is much more produced and it shows. Of course her trademark piano is center stage, but there are also a slew of other instruments adding breadth and an intensity to the overall tone of each song.
There are the overly pop-ish songs; “White Houses” and “Private Radio,” but the rest of the tracks make it pretty clear that she’s branching away from the conventional formula for popularity in the mainstream music scene. I think that there will be a newfound appreciation for the honesty and sincerity in each line of every song. The mood goes from summer to autumn in the span of her career but ever so eloquently and discreetly, much like how kids grow up so fast that their parents don’t notice until they’re getting married and starting families of their own.
Harmonium is catchy but only to a certain extent. It’s something that each time you listen to it, you notice something more, something different. Melody has always been Carlton’s forte but now she incorporates a personal touch in each song. They read like an obscure journal of a girl who can only translate her thoughts through poetry surrounding repetitive proclamations of her wants and feelings. It’s mysterious, it’s engrossing, maybe a little naughty, but it keeps you interested.
Reviewed by
Sable Yong
November 5th, 2004
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she was top three though! so check her out