Search - Carolyn Arends :: Feel Free

Arends "frees" the guitars

Greg Brady | Capital City | 05/07/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Forget any Susan Ashton comparisons on this one..now the sound is closer to Sheryl Crow overall but with lyrical depth closer to Aimee Mann. Still pop but the guitar is amped-up and allowed some distortion...in fact, the first thing you hear is squealing guitar to let buyers of I CAN HEAR YOU know this is not the same old Arends. There are distorted vocals at times and the use of drum loops for the first time. This is a complete 180 from the first CD and a much more modern pop sound.



Radio rewarded her with 3 hits: #12 "New Year's Day", #3 "Do What You Do" and #13 "Big Deal" but she faded from view immediately afterwards. These days, she still does music as an independent artist.



HIGHLIGHTS:

"New Year's Day" examines our failure to follow up on the holiday promises we make. The title track is a blissful, bouncy glockenspiel-dusted paean to honesty to grace with ourselves and fellow believers ("Pray or scream or say or dream anything you want to/To tell me every secret about the ghosts that haunt you/And you can open up your closet wide/There's no skeleton inside/Worse than ones I call my own"). "There You Are" reminds us not to wait for a flashy "burning bush" or "parting of the Red Sea" but notice God's omnipresence among us. "Do We Dare" challenges non-Christians about those quiet moments when we wonder if this is really all there is.."the way our hearts beat/ faced with a sunrise/Like maybe they know something we don't". "Good Thing Going" is an ode to her husband of 7 years (with "no itch" she notes in the liners). These last 2 are the closest in sound to the mellower pop of her debut.



LOWS:

In "Big Deal" Arends castigates herself for her fears of failure. The song itself is great but the production..specifically cheesy background vocals in the chorus..wrecks it. Re-worked this would become a highlight of the album, but as is, it brings it down.



BOTTOM LINE:

If you ONLY like softer acoustic-based pop, this probably won't be your cup of tea. It's obvious Arends wanted to bring her sound closer to mainstream pop here and she succeeded. It's vibrant, electric, and modern...without dumbing down the lyrics. Her debut was nice but this is light years ahead of it. Recommended.



4 1/2 stars"