Avoiding the Sophomore Jinx
Singer/songwriter Vanessa Carlton returns with a more personal album, 'Harmonium'
By Jill Kipnis
Billboard
LOS ANGELES -- Vanessa Carlton is realistic.
She knows today's musical environment is not always friendly toward pop-oriented artists who play their instruments and write their own songs as she does.
In fact, Carlton says she is gladly straddling the fence between "being true to myself as a musician and being embraced commercially" with her sophomore album, "Harmonium."
"It's nice to be back and be the alternative to the more calculated, poppy acts out there," the 24-year-old artist says.
"I feel lucky that I'm able to appeal to real music lovers, and it also somehow works in a really commercial way without me sacrificing or selling myself out."
The 10-track "Harmonium," which was produced by Carlton's beau, Third Eye Blind's Stephan Jenkins, and executive-produced by Carlton and A&M Records president Ron Fair, indeed showcases her coming into her own. The album is full of beautiful, classical-leaning piano riffs and features more heartfelt lyrics than her 2002 debut, "Be Not Nobody."
"The first album was more formal. It was Vanessa Carlton in an elegant party dress," Fair notes. "This is her in Birkenstocks and jeans."
"Be Not Nobody," which earned the artist four Grammy Award nominations, peaked at No. 5 on The Billboard 200 and remained on the chart for 51 weeks.
The album's debut single, "A Thousand Miles," topped the Adult Contemporary chart for seven weeks and the Mainstream Top 40 chart for five. It spent 41 weeks on The Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at No. 5.
The new album's first single, "White Houses," is No. 28 with a bullet on the Mainstream Top 40 chart.
Carlton calls "White Houses," which features an upbeat tempo and building piano chord progressions, a "metaphor for simple innocence. It's about the irony of these simple mundane places that hold so much controversy and pain and triumph all at the same time."
Carlton's reach is expected to grow through upcoming tour dates and TV appearances.She also wants to branch out into other musical outlets.
"After this album, I'd like to score a film," Carlton says. "That's something I want to get into, because I know I could be 65 and wrinkly and still be writing music. I'm also looking to incorporate dance, maybe go into theater or Broadway, and incorporate all the things that I do and love so much into one production or show."
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