Mary Chapin Carpenter - time* sex* love*

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Music reviews of time* sex* love*

Music Review: Fine craftmanship
Rating: 5 Stars

Carpenter's first full length work since 1996's underappreciated "A Place In The World," this new record embodies all that MCC represents: soft-spoken ballads and witty uptempo songs. But with this release, she goes further, offering a new musical backdrop, employing strings more than any other past release, a Sgt. Pepper's vocal and trumpet arrangement for "Maybe World," and a drum machine for "King Of Love." She takes some chances and updates her music, which is a good thing, because although "Stones In The Road" (her masterpiece) and "A Place In The World" were great albums, her musical landscape started to become bland and bit uninteresting. Here, she matches the intensity of her music with the intensity of her lyrics.

No, this isn't a frothy summer release and what a relief. Country music has become too boring for words with all of its cotton candy. Pop music for that too. I like positive, upbeat music when it's done intelligently. But when every love song compares my heart to a piece of candy or some other organ, well it's a bit overbearing. MCC shows you can write fun music ("This Is Me Leaving You," "In The Name Of Love") but still write it like you are over forty. It's okay to write, sing, and act like you're over forty when you are. (Frankly, it's pathetic to see forty year olds singing about teenage crushes. Honestly, who are you trying to fool here?)

So in the end, the only negative thing I can say about this record is the title, very Fiona Apple-ish. While the title suggest a philosphical statement, the record doesn't make a philosphical statement: it makes an emotional statement. The album should've been called "The Dreaming Road." The song represents the whole record: dreams of love and life dashed early and then rekindled again. Whatever she decides to call it, MCC's latest release is her best to date, and will probably be the only good country and pop record to hit the store shelves. Too bad she'll never be played on the radio, since programmers prefer "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy" over "Simple Life."

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