Mary Chapin Carpenter - The Age Of Miracles reviews
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| Allmusic |
 While Mary Chapin Carpenter enjoyed an impressive run of hits on the country charts during the 1990s, it was always clear that she was a folk-influenced singer/songwriter who found a way to coexist with Nashville rather than an artist whose first goal was landing singles on country radio. Now that Carpenter has left the major labels, she seems more than willing to let the country side of her musical personality fade, and her 11th studio album, 2010's The Age of Miracles, is a literate and thoughtful set of songs that speak to the concerns of the heart and soul with equal portions of compassion and intelligence. The audience that made "Down at the Twist and Shout" and "Shut Up and Kiss Me" chart favorites aren't likely to embrace The Age of Miracles, but as a personal work it's as affecting as anything she's ever cut and one of her most lyrically ambitious sets to date. While "I Put My Ring Back On" is an honest and moving testimony of the ways love can ebb and flow, "I Have a Need for Solitude" is just as compelling in its demand for love on one's own terms, and both have more to say about how relationships work in the real word than you're likely to hear on any other album from 2010. "Mrs. Hemingway" is a lovely, nuanced bit of storytelling, while "4 June, 1989," told from the perspective of a young Chinese soldier ordered to clear the protesters from Tiananmen Square, puts a fresh and deeply human twist on a story we imagine we already know. Carpenter produced the album in collaboration with Matt Rollings, and the album's approach is subtle, with the musicians showing respect for the dynamics of the arrangements and supporting Carpenter's gentle but assured vocals rather than drowning them out. Mary Chapin Carpenter doesn't sound especially concerned with how much product she'll move on The Age of Miracles; instead, she's made an album that speaks with honesty and clarity about the mysteries of love and fate, and she communicates well enough that it's hard to imagine anyone who has ever thought about the ways life can turn on a dime not being moved by the beauty of this music....full text |
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| Boston |
| There’s an easy-listening elegance to these tracks, but whatever happened to the fun in Mary Chapin Carpenter’s music? Gone is the spirit of early hits “I Feel Lucky’’ and “Down at the Twist and Shout,’’ which once put her on the country music charts. She is more resolutely a folk singer now, but way too mellow for some fans. This album is extremely reflective — she wrote it after suffering a life-threatening pulmonary embolism in 2007 — but it’s not her best work. Her voice is still pure and graceful, and her viewpoint is still optimistic, but there’s a noticeable lack of energy in these ballad-heavy songs. The better songs are topical: “4 June 1989’’ recalls the Tiananmen protest in China; and “The Age of Miracles’’ references everything from Hurricane Katrina to the Buddhist monks in Burma. The overall sound is quietly intimate and pretty (Boston’s Duke Levine adds his modest brilliance on electric guitar), but one longs for Carpenter to break out a bit. She finally does on “The Way I Feel,’’ a road song that mentions listening to Tom Petty while cruising down the highway. Maybe she should listen to more Petty and add some of that energy to her next record. (Out tomorrow) STEVE MORSE...full text |
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| Popmatters |
It’s almost hard to believe that the last time Mary Chapin Carpenter had a bona fide hit was in 1996. Part of that disbelief comes from the fact that many of today contemporary mainstream country stars owe a copious debt to Carpenter, whose soulful and intimate songs never committed to one specific label. The pop-inflected roots folk that Carpenter crafted earned her a string of hits and is still well alive in the likes of Sugarland, Little Big Town, and even (to a much lesser degree) Taylor Swift.
Then again, the fact that Mary Chapin Carpenter was a mainstream country star was a bit of a mystery from the start. Carpenter was Ivy League-educated and never compromised or hid her feminist leanings. Her artistic persona may have made her the black sheep of Nashville, but it was also a breath of fresh air when compared to her contemporaries. With songs as sturdy and sophisticated as “He Thinks He’ll Keep Her”, or her demanding and justified read of Lucinda Williams’ “Passionate Kisses”, there was no denying Carpenter her spot at the top of the charts....full text |
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