CD reviews for Nov. 27, 2009
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John Mayer
BATTLE STUDIES
If John Mayer were a lesser artist than he is, his fame as a photogenic boyfriend to the stars might eclipse his music career. But Mayer is a genuine artist, a continuously growing singer, songwriter and guitarist who’s won seven Grammy awards and sold more than 12 million albums. Battle Studies, Mayer’s fourth studio album is more confirmation of his talent. The disc’s 10 Mayer originals are poised songs and performances framed in elegantly spare arrangements. As minimal as the production is, nothing seems missing.
The first Battle Studies single, “Who Says,” rolls on in a Taj Mahal acoustic blues vein. The song’s autobiographical lyrics combine the itinerant musician’s widely traveled existence with a desire to fully exploit a freewheeling lifestyle. “It’s been a long night in New York City,” Mayer sings. “It’s been a long night in Baton Rouge. I don’t remember you looking any better, but then again I don’t remember you.”
Mayer’s husky tones blend with girlish singing from the album’s sole guest star, Taylor Swift, in “Half of My Heart,” another song that wrestles with personal freedom vs. ties that bind. Relationships run through Battle Studies lyrics, including the U2-like “Heartbreak Warfare,” a song about painful conflict and confusion and the desire of one half of the battling pair to get things right even it takes all night.
Following a blues detour with Mayer’s hard-driving interpretation of Robert Johnson’s classic “Crossroads,” Mayer returns to his relationships theme. He ends the disc with “Friends, Lovers or Nothing,” a song that both rekindles the sound and sentiment of the late George Harrison and provides a beautiful summation of the battles that went before. The more than six months Mayer invested in creating Battle Studies yield a rich new album.
Kris Allen
KRIS ALLEN
The winner of TV talent show American Idol’s eighth season, Kris Allen’s got talent. For his career-hinging major-label album debut, Allen displays strong songs and much sincerity and vocal power. But for all of the album’s good points, the disc rarely reveals anything that distinguishes the 24-year-old Allen from so many other young recording artists.
A singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist, Arkansas native Allen is matched with a squad of commercially potent producers who previously guided recordings by Leona Lewis, Amy Winehouse, Christina Aquilera, Natasha Bedingfield, Beyoncé, Fergie and Jordin Sparks. So it’s no shock that opening song “Live Like We’re Dying” features melodically static, R&B-influenced verses and a tuneless, hip-hop-based chorus. And again and again the CD’s pop- and rock-oriented songs go for the stereotypically, hammer-handed verse-to-chorus eruptions that seem permanently etched in the producer’s handbook. Even so, a few songs dare to defy contemporary music convention, especially the acoustic guitar-based “Alright With Me” and the U2-derived but very effective “Red Guitar.” It’s in those moments that Allen rises above the pack.
Brandi Carlile
GIVE UP THE GHOST
Although they may not know it, millions of people have heard the songs of Brandi Carlile during broadcasts of the TV series Grey’s Anatomy. And the 28-year-old from Washington state is well worth hearing. She opens her third major-label album with a big, swept-away production of the kind the late Roy Orbison specialized in. It’s an attention-grabbing start to a varied but true-to-the-artist collection that showcases one of the best singer-songwriter-performers to arrive in this decade.
Carlile’s songs exist easily amidst the often segregated folk, country, rock and pop genres. In the softly shuffling, love and conflict-themed “Touching The Ground,” composed by band mate Tim Hanseroth, she’s a folky Bonnie Raitt. The sadness and acceptance heard in the songs of Aimee Mann fill a song about a high school friend’s suicide, “That Year.” In “Oh Dear,” co-written by Carlile and another band mate, Phil Hanseroth (Tim’s twin brother), Paul McCartney’s melody and harmony are reproduced beautifully.
Carlile takes a happy country turn for “Caroline,” featuring guest Elton John, one of her inspirations. The singer and her powerful vocals push all considerations of style aside in “Pride and Joy,” a disc highlight featuring a string arrangement by Paul Buckmaster (arranger for the classic Elton John albums Tumbleweed Connection and Mad Man Across the Water). Benmont Tench of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and the Indigo Girls’ Amy Ray also participate.
Released last month, Give Up the Ghost brought Carlile her highest album debut yet. And the more people who discover Carlile, the higher her records are likely to rise.
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