Artist: Charlotte Martin
Album: The Shore
Label: RCA Records
Rating:
Reviewer: Leslie Flynn

On her debut album, 26-year-old singer-songwriter Charlotte Martin attempts to bring back a subgenre that Tori Amos and Fiona Apple made popular in the mid-nineties – the angst-y female pianist. Through the thirteen track of On Your Shore, she’s able to channel the passionate urgency and gut-wrenching emotions that made Amos and Apple so popular into a unique form of dark confessional. Even the more cheerful songs seem to have a haunted loneliness driving behind the strong beats and even stronger piano playing.

Despite being a pianist, it doesn’t stop Martin from experimenting with many different sounds. In “Limits of Our Love”, she sings of fighting to maintain love on top of a pounding bass track that makes it sound as those it was made to be played amidst strobe lights for a crowded dance floor. A gospel influence slips in during “Sweet Chariot” as she longs to get out of a bad situation, repeating “I have to get out of here”. Drums drive along “Every Time It Rains”, suitably sounding like thunder while Martin declares “Every time it rains / I know it’s good to be alive.”

Throughout the album, Martin also covers a varied list of subjects, from failed relationships to losing sight of who you are, all equally well-penned with poetic and smart lyrics. In the incredibly depressing “Parade On”, Martin sings of a girl in need of rescue from her own personally created hell, while “Up All Night” finds her debating on whether to stay with her love or to move on to something bigger on her own. She fights with herself in “Madman”, attempting to determine whether submitting to the will of another might be all right in the end or, as she declares throughout the song, if nothing’s right.

She has a toughness underlying her vulnerabilities that, hidden from the surface, can become surprising when you finally notice it, such as in “Steel”, a song of numb resilience. Whether it’s a moment of social commentary or just an attempt to overcome diversity, her growling defiance of “we don’t feel anything at all” clears away any misconceptions of Martin as a wilting flower; instead, images of a battle worn soldier come to mind, proving she knows exactly what she’s singing about from harsh experiences.

The quiet piano lines and accompanying strings of “Your Armor” seem less produced than other songs, making it occasionally sound like a demo, but that only increases the raw passion that makes it so emotional powerful. Her voice gently soars with her lyrics of loneliness, becoming stronger and louder as her piano playing grows and crescendos. Some of the most memorable lines from Martin’s incredibly well written songs – “Chasing you around the room is tempting / so near and far away from meaning anything to you / just remember if you’re jumping / I will start my jump running after you” – are delivered with so much insight and unbridled fervor that it’s chill-inducing to hear.

Charlotte Martin’s debut album, with its intelligent lyrics and beautiful musicianship, goes from one strong song to the next, never seeming to show a weak spot in Martin’s repertoire. Her soaring voice and diverse skills with the piano will inevitably garner comparisons to Tori Amos because, at moments, she does sound very similar. Martin, however, has more than enough talent – both musically and with her songwriting – to go beyond the comparison and create a very well deserved name for herself. Anyone looking for smart yet emotional pop music shouldn’t hesitate to pick this album up.