Brandi Carlile
Brandi Carlile

(Columbia/Red Ink)

First Appeared in The Music Box, August 2005, Volume 12, #8

Written by John Metzger

Recently ranked as one of Rolling Stone’s "10 Artists to Watch," Brandi Carlile now faces the difficult task of translating her newfound fame into long-term success. Her debut is filled with average songs that feature straightforward arrangements and run-of-the-mill lyrics, and were it not for her exquisite articulations, all this attention wouldn’t be warranted. Nevertheless, at the age of 23, she already has developed a solid reputation for her spellbinding stage persona, and despite the indistinct music that fills her eponymous effort, her hypnotic aura manages to salvage what could have been a train wreck of an outing. Not surprisingly, the worst moments come when the material confines her talent within a generic sea of mediocrity. Although these weak spots largely are sprinkled in bits and pieces throughout the album, they culminate within the alt-rock aspirations of the Heart-influenced Fall Apart Again. Fortunately, however, there are plenty of other opportunities for Carlile to shine. On Someday Never Comes, for example, her tortured wails recall a cross between Jeff Buckley and Radiohead’s Thome Yorke, and within the quaint, country-tinged waltz of What Can I Say, she touches upon the haunted loneliness of Patsy Cline. Indeed, it’s Carlile’s aching, world-weary delivery that perfectly encapsulates the distance that separates people, and whenever she allows her quivering voice to shift through the full breadth of her range, she emits an anguished cry that an old blues man certainly would admire.

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Ratings

1 Star:   Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!

Copyright © 2005 The Music Box