Mary Chapin Carpenter Album: “Between Here and Gone”

Just listening to this album (as I've done repeatedly for the past few days) reveals that Mary Chapin Carpenter has put miles on since the times when she was considered just another talented country singer. While the musical roots are still there, in the rhythms and instrumental choices, 'Between Here and There' is clearly something else entirely. Is it popular music? Is it folk music? I honestly don't know, but it is earnest, beautifully musical, and deeply touching.

The three years since her last album have been times of change, not just for Carpenter, but for all of us, and this album captures much of the poignancy of a traveler through life who understands that sometimes the changes aren't for the good, but that sometimes they are. Sometimes they are deeply affecting, an sometimes they are swirls on the surface of something much deeper. Here we will find the nostalgia of 'Elysium' and the hope of 'My Heaven.' The abiding concern of 'Goodby America' and the deep grief of 'Grand Central Station.'

This is intensely introspective music - yet it is an introspection that comes to all of us at the way stations of our lives. The production, amplified by the addition of Matt Rollings, presents a much broader spectrum than her previous work with John Jennings. It hints at more greatness to come while managing to be perfect in and of itself. If you are like me, you will find yourself returning to this album repeatedly, listening to the music and musing on the words. A genuinely wonderful album.

Between Here and Gone is one recording that you should own - but probably won't. It will sadly go ignored by mainstream music listeners, but please, please prove me wrong and don't let that happen.

Mary Chapin Carpenter has matured with angelic grace. The quirky country riffs from the "Come On Come On" era have long since gone. `New' country acts are only now following where Mary Chapin was at all those years ago.

The soul Between Here and Gone is searching for ways to escape the disillusionment of a lost America and a world so embroiled with hatred and want - trying to move onto that better place a million miles away from the so-called "Promised Land" and finding true paradise. The song called, "Grand Central Station" is the most poignant remembrance to the departed of New York City that I have heard a musician deliver. There is also a moving and very fitting reuniting with Eva Cassidy.

I'm a young guy and my music collection is typically rock music - but this is really something different. There are no fillers on this recording. Every song will become special in its own way. The lyrics are amongst the most beautiful and most meaningful that will be written. Every line that this true artist sings will take you to a place of the deepest emotion and undoubtedly bring tears to your eyes. I can't compare Between Here and Gone to anything that I've heard before. If an angel came down to deliver us only one message, I believe that it would sound something like this.

Mary Chapin Carpenter has always been a refreshing counter point to the wave of grrl power in country music, a real live woman, if you will who understands that the best thing about being a woman has nothing to do with the length of your skirt or the color of your hair. Unlike female songwriters of the mainstream, Carpenter is unafraid to slip easily into unfashionable middle age, nor to have insecurities unrelated to boyfriends or diets. She provides point of view life stories from a modern day every woman.

"What Would you Say To Me" opens the album with the age old question of what would happen if one ran across an old lover one day. This I followed by the delightfully ambiguous tune "Luna's Gone," which documents the loss of a friend, lover or pet, yet, much like Tift Merritt's "Virginia, No One Can Warn You," leaves the listener wondering if the chanteuse is not also referring to a younger version of herself. "My Heaven" on the other hand is very literally a musing view of Carpenters view of heaven. "Good Night America" is a travel log about a woman, slightly alienated from her society ("I'm a stranger here, no one you would know), yet still looking out the window of her bus with affection. "Between Here and Gone" finds this creature of wanderlust contemplating her new settled lifestyle, musing "I wonder how we know where we belong/is it in a photograph or a dashboard poets song/will I have missed my chance to right an ancient wrong/should I find myself between here and gone." "One Small Heart" is a typical Mary Chapin Carpenter song, in much the same vein as "Why Walk When You Can Fly." Following this is the song which takes up where "This Is Love" and "Late For Your Life" leave off, the pretty and contemplative "Beautiful Racket." "Girls Like Me" is an open look at girls who "live alone inside our heads" and like "boys who aren't afraid of what they see, inside the eyes of girls like me," but "if somehow you love us back, we think there's something wrong with that." "Grand Central Station" is a powerfully haunting ballad about a construction worker. Next comes the very lovely "The Shelter of Storms" about a loved ones incessant hunting of troubles and what has been lately termed drama. Elysium is a pretty and rambling song about the twists and turns that traveled to find the place that winds up being home.

Mary Chapin Carpenter has never been traditional country, however she has always been at her heart real country. There is a heavy folk and pop influence to her work, highlighted by a stunning harmony vocals by Garrison Star, however the occasional fiddle and mandolin bring her firmly into the country realm. When even names like Tim O'Brien and Stuart Duncan turn up, it is hard to argue where she belongs. Unfortunately, right now that place is not anywhere on mainstream radio, however, the good news is that there is a growing independent radio scene nationwide which seems primed and ready to embrace her.

After I heard this album and read that 'My Heaven' was based on The Lovely Bones by Alice Seibold, I ran right out and bought the book. This novel deserves it's own review, but I can say if you have read this book, you need to listen to this song and vice versa.

Maybe this review is based on the blurred experiences I've had reading that book and listening to this music, but I truly believe that music hits you at times when you need it and its messages the most. There comes a time in life when you let go of the authority that youth imposes and create the life you want. You grow up, you get older and at some point the baggage of youth just has to be left in the past. Mary echos this in her music and weaves an 'i can't believe my ears' sonic landscape. From instances of love lost on 'what would you say', migrating and changing friendships on 'Luna's Gone', to finally growing up and realizing that death is not a stopping point on 'Between Here and Gone' and 'My Heaven' respectively, this album is lush and dense. Mary's voice is unbelieveable on this recording. It is rich and strong and absolutely gorgeous. This voice is only matched by the content of this cd: what it means to love, to lose someone you love and miss dearly every day, to grow up and move on, and to finally wake up one day and be comfortable in your own shoes.

The pinnacle of this recording is Elysium, which few reviewers have touched in their meanderings on this album. It is nothing short of one of the greatest love songs ever written. It is brutally honest in its approach and free from cliche. It speaks to love as a creature of the moment and how life somehow weaves you toward love at some point and if the circumstances are just right, the winding road of life straightens itself out in that perfect moment. You never had a map, you had no direction, it just happened.

If you enjoy this recording, check out Vienna Teng's Warm Strangers, Sarah Harmer's All of Our Names and the Indigo Girls' All That We Let In....three of the most incredible releases of this year

Mary Chapin Carpenter is one of America's finest songwriters. I can't think of another that matches her talent for weaving images and music. I have been following her career since I stumbled upon "Family Hands" playing on an NPR station back in the 80's. She has recorded some great albums, but this is her best. Here she displays true artisty in language (poetry) and music. She holds true to her art in all cases, she doesn't take short cuts like a lot of lyricists do. The production compliments her music and isn't overbearing. The instruments have a clarity, and of course, her voice has a sense of confort and familiarity. Her lyrics are meaningful and multidimensional. Her poetic images and musical talents create a tapestry that is unyelding.

I listened "Between Here and Beyond" twice last night and once again this morning. In fact, you don't just listen to this album, you see and feel it. A true work of art!