Is Vanessa 'dark' again?

[04jhowarth]

So I'm pretty sure we've all seen the latest photo that's been released and looking at it, it looks very moody, dark and very foreboding.

http://razorandtiepublicity.com/photos/VC4_lo.jpg

I hope that this album is more of the 'dark' Vanessa we all love. I know she's written some dark and 'melancholy' songs over the past few years e.g. All Is Well, but it seems she's been singing about being happy etc e.g. Nolita Fairytale. She has said in some interviews about going back to her roots hence recording to tape yada yada yada. So all in all, do we feel that Vanessa is going back to her darker side?

Personally I feel she is going in a totally different and somewhat uncomfortable direction which retains more of the darker mannerisms in which her last album was unaccustomed to.

The photo looks like she's waiting for something, like she knows something is about to happen, something big, but she's sitting calmly. Waiting. She looks very wise yet on edge.

Thoughts?

[HippieSongBird]

Good lord I hope so! I miss Dark V!

[OPENROAD]

I don't think the songs we have heard so far are particularly dark, if anything they are the opposite.

[lydia]

That picture does look kind of 'dark', but I don't think the album is going to be really dark.
Some of the songs sound kind of melancholy, but for the most part, they sound happy.
I did love the dark Vanessa, but she has changed, and her music has changed.  Now I really like the happier Vanessa. 

[[sobriquet]]

That picture does look kind of 'dark', but I don't think the album is going to be really dark.
Some of the songs sound kind of melancholy, but for the most part, they sound happy.
I did love the dark Vanessa, but she has changed, and her music has changed.  Now I really like the happier Vanessa. 

I agree. Maybe the lighting of the shot won't define the record.

And I'm happy with the direction she is taking. Her sound is not too dark, but not as well happy-happy. It is somehow in-between. Something in the lines of wistful and pensive. Hopeful, even.

[Manny]

whether is dark or not, she knows what she is doing! She is Vanessa Carlton 

[[sobriquet]]

I agree. There's nothing to fear.

[WhiteRabbit]

whether is dark or not, she knows what she is doing! She is Vanessa Carlton 

100% truth right here 

[iluvvanessa]

we've essentially heard about half the album live, it isn't dark. Carousel screams light.

[Rabbits_on_the_run]

I wouldn't call it dark, but I wouldn't call it light either. Vanessa's never been that mature and emotionnally connected to her music in my opinion and this record is just (going to be!) epic. She took her art on a different level this time round. If you want to give a colour to her music I think orange would suit it best

[KULPDOGG]

I would say it's about half-and-half...with any Vanessa album there's a mix of darker and lighter songs.

the songs that I would call negatively emotive or "dark" at all might be Fair Weather Friends, Tall Tales For Spring and London (thanks to the newer lyrics).
other than that the other songs are more positive and have a positive outlook about them.... Carousel, Get Good, I Don't Want To Be A Bride

...and of course I can't say much about the other new songs we haven't heard yet.
Vanessa will forever have a dark side to her, that's just how she is. but I wouldn't call her completely "dark", she has changed and matured, her songs are more mature, but they still have light or dark elements to them.

[[sobriquet]]

It's interesting that you found FWF and London as dark songs. Lyrically, I'd consider them as darker songs. But melodically, they are included in my list of the in-between. Those that hang in the middle.

[Martin.]

I remember people saying "Fools Like Me" was darker and then when they heard the studio version they were all 'wtf has she done?' lol.

I'm not judging anything yet. The live versions sound nice but if "Fools Like Me" is anything to go by, the studio versions could create a whole different atmosphere to the song.

[[sobriquet]]

I've read that too that Fools Like Me was way darker than it is now. I never really heard its dark notes too.

Has anyone got the recording of the particular dark Fools Like Me, by the way?

[Martin.]

Nothing was changed or anything, but the acoustic version just sounds less cheery & happy than the studio version. The lack of drums, whistling, etc made it seem like it was darker. Not that it's a dark song (more of a sad song), but the piano melody wasn't cheerful ... and since that's what was all we had to go on, people just assumed it would be one of the "darker" songs on the record.