Redemption Through Song
Kasey Chambers and Taylor Barton do some serious soul-searching in their new releases
Reviews by Al Kaufman
Kasey Chambers is the best thing to come out of Australia since, well, there’s Kylie Minogue, Men at Work, Keith Urban, Olivia Newton-John . . . Kasey Chambers is the best thing to come out of Australia ever. Her first two releases, THE CAPTAIN and BARRICADES AND BRICKWALLS, drew comparisons to Lucinda Williams, and rightly so. Her sound is more Americana than most American’s can muster. With her tough, little girl voice, she seems to be on a constant search for happiness and redemption. She wants to be an idealist, but is too embedded in this earth to be able to do so. You want to give her a hug, but you’re worried she may slug you if you do.
On her latest release, CARNIVAL (Warner Brothers), Chambers offers up more of what makes her great, while continuing to branch out into poppier waters. CARNIVAL has a richer sound than previous CDs. There are still songs such as “Sign on the Door” and “Light Up a Candle” that offer up that country edge that Chambers is so good at. And “I Got You Now” is a rollicking good tune that measures up to any of Lucinda Williams’ best kiss-off songs. The rest gets a bit mainstream, but her bright vocals are able to cut through most of it. Bernard Fanning’s (from the band Powderfinger) gentle harmony vocals save an otherwise listless “Hard Road.” It’s too bad he wasn’t around for “Railroad,” “Surrender,” a few others. This may be Chamber’s spottiest CD yet, but the highs still far outweigh the lows, and Chambers should be given credit for continuing to evolve.
While Kasey Chambers’ music has religious undertones, Taylor Barton is more overt on her gorgeous VAPOR (Green Mirror). Religious references abound as Barton fights to keep the demons at bay. In the stunning opening track, “Rio Grande,” she sings of going down to the river to wash the blood off her hands. It is vintage southern gothic rock in the Trailer Bride vein and Barton’s eerie vocals fit it perfectly. But while Barton tries to wash her sins away, she admits, “I love cowboys in bar fights” on “Sultry Girl.”
Married to former Saturday Night Live bandleader, G.E. Smith (who co-produced the CD with her), Barton makes good use of horns throughout her CD. This keeps it from slipping into Enya territory, although there are a couple of instances when the songs become too atmospheric for their own good. For the most part, this is hypnotic, dreamy music that make you think of southern swamplands at night, and if you look hard enough through the fog, you can just make out a wizened grandmother sitting on the porch, tapping her toes.
