Denny's Forest Blog (English): The album "Liberman" by Vanessa Carlton

Originally posted on: 10/11/2016

Liberman is the fifth album of the singer/songwriter Vanessa Carlton released in 2015, four years after the album Rabbits On The Run. The album comes with the artist's new style: indie/folk, then like in the previous one, it has the main use of the instruments (like the guitar) and, of course, the piano still plays an important role in Vanessa's composition and personal style. She was known worldwide since her first and only hit A Thousand Miles released in 2002, though, Vanessa breaks up with the pop style that made her famous. Her discography expresses her evolution and changing through the music, as she said in her official site, a mature process. Then, at first, I'm going to a little recap of Liberman's background, then secondly, talk about the album besides my impressions about it.

Liberman's background

Young Heart EP

This EP was released in April 2015 to present the new single with the next album's new style: Young Heart. Vanessa said the song would reflect her future compositions. The Young Heart EP also has four tracks of Rabbits On The Run, the most folk ones in my opinion, besides the download is available for free on NoiseTrade (here).

Blue Pool EP

The second EP was released a few months after Liberman, it came with new exclusive tracks with an alternative style: including mixes and synthesizers on the songs Take It Easy and Blue Pool. Vanessa's piano style sounds differently and original, to me it sounded very inspiring and authentic. Later, these tracks were included on Liberman, but we still can listen to the Blue Pool EP here.

Willows (Lyric Video)

The video of the new track Willows was released in August 2015 on YouTube to announce the release of Liberman in the next month. Also, it was the first lyric video Vanessa launched her whole career, so it has a great meaning to her fans. To me, Willows presents how much Vanessa has changed and how changed, at the same time, it shows why she is still the artist I like to listen to.

The album

Finally, Liberman has released on 23 October 2015 which title is a reference to the paint with the same name made by Vanessa's grandfather. On the album's official trailer, she says how much his art and his paints inspired her to compose and keep going with the songwriter career. Liberman has 10 tracks on the standard version and 16 tracks on the deluxe version, including 7 of piano and vocals, they're so beautiful. Check out the full tracklist below:

1. Take It Easy

2. Willows

3. House of Seven Swords

4. Operator

5. Blue Pool

6. Nothing Where Something Used To Be

7. Matter Of Time

8. Unlock The Lock

9. River

10. Ascencion

11. Blue Pool (Living Room Session)

12. River (Living Room Session)

13. Take It Easy (Living Room Session)

14. Willows (Living Room Session)

15. House Of Seven Swords (Demo)

16. Operator (Living Room Session)

17. Unlock The Lock (Living Room Session)

18. Nothing Where Something Used To Be (Living Room Session)

On 21 October 2016, Vanessa released the live version of Liberman and it's available here.

First single

Operator

   Operator was written by Vanessa and her husband John J. McCauley III who is also a musician. About the lyrics, Vanessa said it's about a specific situation in which an older woman tries to convince a young man to do what she wants, she manipulates him to benefit herself. That's a new content, a very mature in my point of view, also it can be associated to the topics of dealing with complex and difficult situations in adulthood, like in her previous compositions from her last album. About the melody, it's a lot of different from the previous tracks of Rabbits On The Run, besides it shows her new style associated with synthesizers and mixes, like on her previous 2 EPs. According to some fans, the sound effects and the mixes are influences of her music producer Stevie Osbourne, who produced her previous álbum too. His influence can be noticed on all of Liberman's tracks.
   Liberman has other two singles: House Of Seven Swords (YouTube | Deezer | Spotify) and Nothing Where Something Used To Be - Stevie Osbourne Remix (YouTube | Deezer | Spotify), however, the last one was released after the album's launch and it's available only on music streaming services or on download here. Vanessa released just one more music video: Blue Pool.

Where to listen and download
iTunes
Google Play
Spotify
Deezer
YouTube Official Playlist

Vanessa's life and Liberman

   On Vanessa Carlton's official page, she brings up some statements about Liberman's production and connects it with her career as a singer/songwriter. Her honest statement about how much the music and art are about the artist itself is something that I strongly believe. It's all subjectivity and it's in everything we create. About Liberman, she said:

"The whole message of the album is expressing a lot of philosophies about my life, peace, pain, and happiness over the past ten years. I wanted this record to not only be very personal to me, but an expression of these ideas. A performance is not just about the performer at all; it's about the connection between the audience and the artist. You're at your most vulnerable on stage, and you're singning songs that are an expression of yourself. That's when a performance works. That's when an album works. Liberman was special because it does that. I hope the show does it too"

Liberman's release was delayed in 2015 on account of Vanessa's pregnancy of her daughter Sid, however, Liberman doesn't have any lyrics about motherhood or topics related to it. Then, about the road from her initial years that was full of success until Liberman's release, she said:

"Martin Scorcese said sometimes your greatest challenge is not you failure but your success. In a way I was able to persever after having a success out of the gate and figure out a path that feels really purê to me. But I had to create this enviroinment where I felt comfortable changing. When I was first doing records I was so Young and I wanted to please everyone. But now sort of feel ancient and I love it and I just to want to make art for its own sake. Whether I fall on my face or not at least I know I did it. Everything I've done and everything I am is there in the songs"

On an interview to Magnet Magazine, Vanessa talked about knowing world wide due to her first hit A Thousand Miles in 2002:

"If you are in the strange position of having a song that everybody knows that you wrote when you were 16 years old but are now a 35-years-old woman and sound like you did nothing in the past, then I have two tips. One: In order to not feel trapped by people's perception of you and not stunt your growth and curiosity as an artist, it is important to pretend that you've never had a hit. Forget that it ever happened. Proceed onwards with your creative process with no obligation with your past. Two: If you are a performer and you seem to have a crowd that is 90 percent full of fans that are only interested in your new material and the remaining 10 percent of these are attending your show for nostalgic reasons and/or don't give a shit about anything except that one song that they know, then play your hit first. If anyone leaves then you've successfully and peacefully separated the men from the boys."

Finally, about the changing in her music style and her control of the production of her music and records, she said:

"And to be honest, it took me two albums after that crazy first pop-culture exposure to get back to the questions, of 'What am I? What is my point? How do I make the record I want to listen to? The kind I love so much? So, how do I stop trying to please other people?' So I'm a late bloomer. It took me the age of 30, but whatever - better late than never"

My impressions

I must say I delayed to write this post, even though I've listened to Liberman on the year of its release. Like I said in the previous post about the album Rabbits On The Run, Vanessa Carlton's songs are with me for so long time, besides I've been keeping up with the gradual changing of her music style in each album of her career.
About Liberman, I was expecting the indie style would play a great hole in it more than on her previous album, and then, there's so indie style here! Vanessa's usual topics in her lyrics haven't changed, she still talks about relationships, hope, disillusion, love, happiness, and so on. Besides on Liberman, the topics have a more mature characteristic expressed through the lyrics, in fact, adulthood is so strong every single part of the album. It is very clear on the songs: Nothing Where Something Used To Be, Matter Of Time, House Of Seven Swords, Blue Pool, and of course, Operator.
The insertion of synthesizers and mixes in some tracks was a big surprise to me! I never expected she would go through that way, her piano style sounds even more amazing than usual. To be honest, I love this! She inserts all those tracks together in this album and sounds so coherent, the synthesizers playing are playing a great role in Liberman, besides the track Nothing Where Something Used To Be (Stevie Osbourn Remix) is one of the most amazing songs I've ever listened. I wish she could release more songs like this and of course, I wouldn't be surprised if she inserts more synthesizers and mixes on the next album. ~~I really hope she does!~~
Her style changed, it's a fact. As for me, I understand it, and I think changing is something so coherent, after all, music style changes because we're human and we change. It's natural. Experiences make us a different person, the same goes for art, music, and compositions, they change along with us. It's all subjectivity. Vanessa got older and mature, her composition would be like her actual state. Besides, I think it is reflected through the song Take It Easy, which is about dealing with situations and people with maturity built by life experiences.
Finally, I can say I love this album, mainly the tracks of Living Room Session, they're so refreshing and beautiful. The songs I love the most are: River, House Of Seven Swords, Willows, Blue Pool, Nothing Where Something Used To Be (all the three versions) and Unlock The Lock.

See you at the next post!

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Thursday, January 2, 2020

The album "Liberman" by Vanessa Carlton