23 year old rural Washington native Brandi Carlile makes her major label debut with this self-titled full length and I can't believe that it has taken a label this long to sign her. What an amazing voice and tremendous songwriting talent this young lady has, it almost makes you think that the major labels might be paying attention to what music lovers actually what to hear.
Carlile sometimes sounds a bit country (in an Emmylou Harris way) and at other times he is full fledged singer/songwriter in the vein of Sarah McLachlan or Sheryl Crow. The country feel caught me off guard at first but it grows on you and by the album's end I wasn't really noticing it all that much. Her voice is the obvious centerpiece and it's wonderful, she sounds familiar yet distinct: an enviable position for any artist.
Carlile's debut just kind of flows naturally from song to song exhibiting her talent at every turn both as a vocalist and as an acoustic songsmith. The album opener, "Follow" is one of my favorites and reminds me a great deal of the old time country singers like Patsy Cline and early Emmylou Harris, although it certainly has a much more contemporary sound. "Throw it All Away" and "Someday Never Comes" are also strong examples of Carlile's talent.
What is the most impressive about Carlile in my opinion is that she doesn't back off. Her songs have guts and the lyrics are never so glossy or "poetic" that you can't latch onto them. The album is extremely well produced which, of course, doesn't always sit well with indie music lovers; it is also not completely major label over the top slick, striking a nice balance that most singer/songwriter fans will enjoy.
3/4
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