Liberman by Vanessa Carlton | Album Review
Vanessa Carlton weaves delicate soundscapes into some of her most soothing a beautiful works to date.
Vanessa Carlton’s career is far more than the shadow of her 2002 breakout hit “A Thousand Miles.” Her subsequent releases continued to show her skill at writing catchy, bright piano pop. As she has continued to evolve throughout her career, Carlton’s sound has softened as she takes on aspects of indie-pop, folk, and singer/songwriter qualities. This quilted matrix of sound truly blossoms in her 2015 release Liberman. Its sound feels ethereal like the pastel pictures in a fairytale. That’s exactly what she was aiming for as noted by her discussion with Hamptons.com:
“This album [“Liberman”] was really about a place like kind of a dreamland that you go when you put your headphones on — that’s what I wanted it to be... Some of those really special records where tonally they just are so rushed and they’re so transcending and they just take you to a different place in your brain, and I really wanted to go down that kind of rabbit hole in sense of the sound.” — Vanessa Carlton via Hamptons.com (2014)
Vanessa begins the album with the lush sounds of “Take it Easy.” Carlton sprinkles in the warm breeze of synths, guitar, omnichord, and strings to caress the listener with a sense of calm. Her words echo this sentiment. This world seeks to bring solace to those would a gripped by the fears of failure and loss, “As your castle crumbles down and it will/ Take it easy, take it easy/ When heaven wraps around you and she will/ Take it easy, take it in easy.” This mist that gathers around us will only carry us further into a place of reassurance as we progress onwards.
“Willows” opens with a tilting piano melody that winds sinuously around the click and strum of guitars. Vanessa keeps the piece rather hollow structurally, which brings out the blueprint nature of her words. Carlton imparts the various ways she’s cultivated a life she feels happiest, “Find a love/ Go build a cabin/ Find land and a tree/ Carve in a wish/ On your knees, planting seeds/ The dirt, making rows, where the devil don’t see.” It’s in the way she’s designed the soundscape that feels like it’s drawing itself as you listen. I also find her poetic waxing on love, life, future, and family to be both vivid and pure.
“House of Seven Swords” begins to dull the fog covering the dreamy soundscape of the prior songs. Her keys and omnichord anchor us in the shimmering walls of this protective space. Vanessa’s words dance around us acting as guidance to not second guess our choices, “That’s the way it is, love/ Go whichever way you need to go/ Nobody can tell you how to build
Your House of Seven Swords/ That’s the way it is, love/ Together and yet still we’re on our own/ Nobody can tell us how to build/ Our house of seven swords.” This buttercream-colored backdrop beautifully accentuates the sparkles of color that tickle and soothe its listener.
Carlton takes a much more commanding stance on the lead single “Operator.” Her voice soft yet assertive matches the momentum drawn up by the jangle of stringed and keyed instruments that push us onwards. This energy she spins up begins for release in the same way she wishes to bring her and her partners lives together, “Heard what you said/ And I say what I mean/ We should go/ Pack up your things/ I don’t care what you bring/ Leave your house for a home.” It’s not only a nice change of pace from the cottony textures that come before, but it marries so nicely with the sort of frantic need to bring love to someone.
Carlton imparts a folk twang to her voice adding to the mysticism of “Blue Pools.” The mixture of creamy synths and electric guitar swirls in eddies of color with each chorus. Vanessa speaks on the fragility of fame through the memory of talking with an old flame. The ivy here is the figurative barricade to the limelight that many reach for, “‘Cause the garden walls grow quick/ Before know you’re outside of it/ The ivy’s coming in/ It’s so beautiful if you can find it.” It’s a garden of dreamy indie-pop that you could easily melt into. Her ending piano solo only bolsters the glittering beauty that envelopes this piece. I also think it works nicely as the backdrop to the idea of reaching success in the entertainment business.
Carlton places us in a wistful mindset towards the memories of an old relationship on “Nothing Where Something Should Be.” Vanessa’s vocals run like watercolor through the reverb hangs each phrase. This adds to the bang of loss now attached to the memories of her old relationship. Her conflicting emotions surrounding how things ended seek to find a comforting resolution, “I will admit that you’re the closest I have come/ There’s just something about you that I trust/ I didn’t say but I was sad to see you go/ You went back to the ghost, I went back to what I know.” The synth wash draped over everything emphasizes this intangible need that she is grabbing for.
Carlton rocks us gently in the folksy guitar of “Matter of Time.” Again, the slight twang in her voice carries like a rising fog over the ever-warming morning of a forested mountainside. This earthiness acts as the soil to blossom the love that Vanessa nourishes, “He said it’s only a matter of time
Before your heart is mine/ Have you been searching?/ You’ve been looking the world over/ When is it time to let go?/ And is it then that you know?/ All the peace that we’ve been bringing out of each other/ Out of each other.” Carlton continues this aura of contentment at the moment regardless of what the future may bring that embraces you like a hug.
“Unlock the Lock” is her most piano-driven piece. Her dreamscape churns a bit more drama into its soft colors through the spritely jump of springs and moody melodies. Carlton calls out to us to open ourselves up again to the world, “You know what you should do/ You choose not to go/ The key hangs low around your neck/ I know what you know/ Unlock the lock/ Unlock the lock.” The story paints itself in the same dynamics as a ballet. Its sense of movement begs the listener to move around the curves and swells of the music.
“River” is a slow burner. It’s much more set in an indie-rock space. Once the chorus comes in, the song blooms. Carlton’s words carry us on this river of life that forms us into the people we are, “The river flows/ It takes a hold and it’s running through/ And we ain’t changing on our own/ Oh, we change for you/ The river flows, it always flows.” I do wish the verses were a bit more dynamic. Because of the cyclical nature of their melody, it feels a bit stuck which keeps me from truly connecting with this track.
“Ascension” ends the record on a rather haunting note. They set us in a sort of limbo broken by the dull hum of what sounds like a machine. This evolves into something more celestial once the piano and reversed synths rise in. When asked by digitialtrends, Carlton said the song was inspired by a melody her husband (John McCauley of Deer Tick) created:
“‘Ascension’ is a great example of the collaboration between everybody on this record. The piano was a piano piece my husband John [McCauley, chief singer/songwriter of indie-rock stalwarts Deer Tick] was playing around the house, and I fell in love with it and ended up playing over it. He wrote the music and I wrote the vocal and lyric, and we recorded it with Adam Landry here in Nashville, and then we sent them off to Steve Osborne to mix them.” — Vanessa Carlton via digitaltrends (2015)
Her words bring back the notions of how fragile and yet beautiful life can be, “Ascension/ Ascension/ The sky is no separate light/ And we watch, everyday of our lives/ And we grow and let go… and die.” Vanessa’s distant vocals are like a final call to its listeners to bask in the light of life. It’s bittersweet yet still poignant.
I already knew that Vanessa had a breadth of talent that has gotten better with time. Her teamwork with producer Steve Osborne is something magical. I was a little worried that this fae forest that Carlton created sonically would begin to feel flat, but I never found myself tired of the soothing textures she’d sown into this project. The overarching theme of finding happiness yourself and the life you’ve built never gets too cliche. It honestly is one of the most comforting albums I’ve nestled into in a while. This feels like Vanessa is at home with herself and her sound. If you like indie-pop and want something you can get lost in, I can’t recommend this enough.
My overall thoughts on Liberman:
Loved it: “Take it Easy”, “Willows”, “Operator”, “Blue Pool”, “Nothing Where Something Used to Be” & “Ascension”
Liked it: “House of Seven Swords”, “Matter of Time” & “Unlock the Lock”
Disliked it: “River”
My overall rating: 7.0 out of 10.
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