Review Summary: Blends light and dark emotions to create a unique but instantly recognizable folk/country sound.
Many people seems to find country and folk to be very different genres, one is constantly stereotyped as the music of choice of rednecks and trigger-happy trailer trash -- a cliche artists like Toby Keith aren't doing much to combat -- while the other had faded into obscurity before being saved by throngs of meditative hipsters with only a guitar and waves of studio ambience. There may be some truth to both these stereotypes, as it definitely can pinpoint where the majority of their audience comes from, many forget how close the roots of both genres are. Both are derived from blues and roots music from the southeastern United States, straying only recently into vastly different stylistic territories. One need only go back to the 1990s to see when the genres were virtually inseparable.
One of the many albums from this time period that can only be adequately described as "Country/Folk" is Mary Chapin Carpenter's vastly successful record
Stones in the Roads. While it definitely borrows many instruments and rhythms from the upbeat nature of country music, especially in poppier tunes such as "Tender When I Want to Be" and "Shut Up and Kiss Me," this is tempered by a fair amount of the ambience and somber aesthetic of the later album tracks like "John Doe No. 24." The most obvious indication of this near-perfect marriage is how no matter the tempo or direction of the individual songs, each sounds like it's cut from the same sonic cloth as the rest, creating a tapestry of unique but subdued pieces that all fit together without competition.
The first four tracks manage this combination of genres best and are easily the strongest string of songs on the entire work."Why Walk You Can Fly?" relies mainly on a piano yet remains uptempo and hopeful throughout, refusing to fall into the somber rut that many piano ballads often do, building and flowing naturally from one sound to another without notice. "House of Cards" easily embodies a harder rock edge while attacking suburban shallowness, while "A Keeper for Every Flame" features a completely likable folk-pop sound with intelligent lyrics about love to boot. At the forefront of these openers however is the achingly gorgeous "Stones in the Road." Perfectly encapsulating Carpenter's gift of lyricism and melody, the song marks a resounding note of personal nostalgia for me growing up, which coincidentally is the very focus of the piece. Easily the prettiest and most graceful tune on the record, it also adds up to being on of the best folk songs out there.
The folk-based songs fare better than the more country-based ones, with the latter leaning toward pop and failing to do much other than have a good time and don't threaten to weigh the album down too much. The former, especially in "End of My Pirate Days" weave a dusty and heartbroken atmosphere. This track features some of the simplest sounds of the album, and lyrics like "One day he turned to me/And before I took one breath/I knew I would only see his shadow in what light was left" offer such a plethora of emotion it can't knock the listener back with its honesty. Similarly moving is the jazz-tinged "John Doe No. 24," which tells the true story of a man found on the street with no sight or hearing and imagines the life he must have lived. It's a tragic song, but one filled with hope and wonder. Immediately following these two is another album highlight, "Jubilee." With the beauty a sunny meadow in spring, of course tempered by the more meditative touch of Carpenter's mind, the song takes cues from Irish folk songs and country instruments. It's truly lovely and needs to heard to be believed.
The closest thing the album has to a fault are a couple of tracks that seem unnecessary, such as "Tender When I Want to Be," which, while still a solid song, seems to be nothing more than the obligatory country radio hit (it was), and "Where Time Stands Still," where Carpenter proves she can't handle just herself and a piano the way Shawn Colvin could on certain cuts from
A Few Small Repairs. These two sun spots are vastly overpowered by the pure conviction in Carpenter's sound and the incredible quality of the songs that surround it.
In the end, just as Carpenter can balance genres to achieve a unique but instantly recognizable sound, she also harnesses somber and lightweight emotions to achieve a yin-and-yang combination that allows honesty to bleed through that any listener can relate, perhaps most evidently in the album's closer, "This Is Love." This balance is not only her most powerful skill as a musician, but something that allows the album to live outside its respective genres and exist as a truly singular work that deserves just as much recognition now as it did when it first graced the Earth in 1994.
