Though singer/songwriter
Mary Chapin Carpenter was initially considered a country performer, she was never easily boxed in; her interests and songs ran from folk to rock to pop, and she never reined them in. She was part of an anti-establishment group of writers and performers who came from the East Coast acoustic music scene and hit Nashville in the late 1980s. Most are footnotes now, but
Carpenter has remained vital, productive, and has a track record of consistency most artists would -- or at least should -- envy. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2012.
Songs from the Movie finds her revisiting her own catalog and revisioning it. She chose ten songs and enlisted Grammy-winning arranger
Vince Mendoza to orchestrate them. Backed by a 63-piece orchestra, a 15-voice choir, and some prime session players in select places (
Peter Erskine,
Matt Rollings,
Luis Conte), and recorded at the
Sir George Martin-founded AIR studios in London.
Carpenter bravely executes these songs with the taste she has exhibited throughout her career. Her singing voice has never been particularly powerful, but her crystalline contralto has always gotten her lyrics across convincingly and honestly.
Mendoza's charts treat that voice with respect and dignity. They are seldom overtly ornate and they never overpower her singing. For her part,
Carpenter is more restrained than usual here; she doesn't attempt to become an extension of the orchestra's and choir's grandeur, but instead offers a subtle, deliberately understated delivery that allows lyrics and music to become part and parcel of an unfolding story. As a result, standout tracks such as "I Am a Town," "The Dreaming Road," "Come On Come On," "Mrs. Hemingway," and closer "Goodnight America," add poignant reverie to the original versions. And as a whole, these songs highlight and accentuate the set's title;
Songs from the Movie becomes an almost painterly soundtrack that is indeed a nearly visual exteriorization of the interior world, travels, and travails of
Carpenter as a songwriter. At times, this album is nearly exquisite, at all others, it is beautiful. ~ Thom Jurek
![Smoky Mountain DNA: Family, Faith and Fables [2 CD]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0198704119378_p0_v1_s90x140.jpg "Smoky Mountain DNA: Family, Faith and Fables [2 CD]")
