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Carly Simon - Into White
(Sony/Columbia)
Released: January 2, 2007
For some time now, Carly Simon hasn't meant cutting-edge pop music for me.
She's become comfort food for my musical soul. She's a safe place to
return to, familiar. This one may be a little too over the top in that
regard. Produced with old friends and the kids, and well - you need to
read the liner notes.
There's warmth to spare, here. My favorite track has no words at all -
it's "Manha De Carnaval, (Theme from Black Orpheus)," that for me, evokes
a leaf drifting down a stream. Some tracks are old (Oh! Susannah) some are
newer (Lennon/McCartney's "Blackbird), some are turned upside down
(ex-husband James Taylor's "You Can Close Your Eyes" in 6/8 time).
They shouldn't fit together - but because of the dreamy, wispy way in
which they're all put together, they do. They fit together nicely.
Okay. I like this one so much, I couldn't figure out why I disliked her
last disc, "Moonlight Serenade."
"She phoned it in," I wailed. So I went back and listened to that one. Was
I wrong?
No, I was right. She phoned it in.
Nearly half the fun of this disc is reading Ms. Simon's liner notes. The
story behind "I'll Just Remember You," written by son Ben Taylor and his
friend, David Saw, is the single best reason not to iTune this one. Get
the disc and the notes. The song, by the way, sounds like something that
would have fit in the thirties.
Listen with your kids. Listen with someone you love. Just listen.
Carly's back on the soundtrack of my life.
That's probably great news for
her. (He said, drolly.)
Highest Recommendation.
Four microphones (out of four)
- Doug Boynton
(02/09/07) |
