Page 7 part 2: Heroes and thoeves dosen't include any hip-hop dramatics-no JaRule cameos,no "Hollaback Girl"-type songs no 8o8 drumms or simmering beats. Produced by Jenkins and Gotti, the album,above all else emphasizes Carlton's dexterous piano arrangements. It build on Carlton's artistic history and showcases her groth as a songwriter and vocalist without resorting to any trite formulas. The first single "Nolita fairytale," is a triumphant, feel-good song detailing the obstacles
Carlton has overcome to find happiness while the soul-stirring, brilliantly arranged ballad"Home" arguably the albums strongest cut,finds Carlton's Tori Amos-like vocals soaring over epic and lush piano keys with simple emphatic drums and faint violins adding to the son'g grand feel. The opening lines to "Home"-"Some people live in a house on a hill and wish they were someplace else/There's nobody there when the evening is still/Secrets with noone to tell"- eventually give away to a more ethereal deffinition of home,with Carlton returning to the refuge of her lover's arms:"For me its a glance and a smile on your face/The touch of your hands/An honest embrace/For where I lay it's you I keep/This changing world might fall asleep'With you all I know is... I'm coming home.
"I feel sad singing that song," CArlton says. She dosen't explain the cause of her melancholy, but she dosen't need to. The song was a collaborative effort with her former boyfriend-Carlton wrote and arranged the music while Jenkins penned the lyrics,and one can only assume that,at the time they considered each other home.
"When she made the record,home was Stephan," Gotti confirms. "But Vanessa's found her home in her music,and home can be anything for people:a boyfriend husband,child, mother...What home can represent is is what makes it such an enormous record. Tahat record is very special to me. In a perfect world, I would love for her to be at the Grammy Awards singing "Home" with her big whitefucking piano with a V emblem on it and fucking orchestre in the back!
Carlton sips her water and checks the time on her blackberry to make sure she's still on schedule for her flight. Our waiter drops by to check on us, and Carlton politely assures him everything is fine. "Writing this album, I read a lot of fairytales and I identifiedwith the metaphors in those stories. "Little Red Riding Hood" is a bit of a theme in this album, but I've changed the story around. The moral of the story is never stray from the beaten path or you'll be eaten by the wolf. And of course,in the past few years, I've realy strayed from the beaten path and reaped the rewards. Instead of being eaten by the wolf I've tamed the wolf,and it does what I say."
Thats all!
