Album: This Kind of Love /  Carly Smon /  13 tracks / 

Reviewed by Natalie Pinkis

The day has arrived.  After an eight-year hiatus, Hear Music announced that Carly Simon has released a highly anticipated follow up to 2007’s Into White titled This Kind of Love.  Simon is the latest artist to sign with Hear Music’s rather renowned list of talent including Joni Mitchell, Paul McCartney, and James Taylor, and lucky for us, the label requested originals.

“I was working on plenty of new songs during this period when I was recording other people’s songs,” says Simon.  “I had a huge collection of bits and pieces of songs when I was approached by Hear Music.”  This thirteen track album ranks among Simon’s most personal, with ten songs either written or co-written by Carly herself.  It was a gathering of the old gang, as co-producers Frank Filipetti and Jimmy Webb jumped on board, with Webb even contributing a track in the “Last Samba.” The tone of the album however, was nothing like Film Noir, the project that first brought the three together.  This time, it was Brazilian.

It is Simon’s fascination with Brazil’s own Jorge Ben and Caetano Veloso, and their Brazilian rhythms and instruments that sets the tone for This Kind of Love.

You get an initial taste of this South American flavor in the first track and title song, “This Kind of Love”.  As you listen to the song, you will want to be driving down the coast in a convertible on some warm night.  It’s a beautiful samba-of-a-love-song with that draws you in like “You’re the fantasy that I forgot to forget,” and “the motions giving moonlight meaning.”  It is a brilliant start that leads from one great song to the next.

“This Kind of Love,” and the later track “Hola Soleil,” both incorporate a children’s choir for support and a breezier, easier sound.  When asked about “Hola Soleil,” Simon said, “It’s the only song in my entire career that started like that – completely spontaneous.  There was a lot of laughter that day.” Those light, yet sultry and warm feelings are the underlying current that drives the Brazilian sounding percussion and ties together song after song.

There are a few style standouts that make you jump and turn up the volume.  Track number three, “People Say a Lot”, is one of those knockouts.  It is a mixture of talking in rhythm and dissonant harmonies that emphasize the entertaining, but sometimes bitter remarks about people promising you the world, only to snatch it all away in the end.  The song is loosely based upon All About Eve, a film about an assistant who attempts to take on the identity of her employer. The lyrics can be interpreted in many ways – personally, politically, you name it.

Another surprising style shift comes at the end of the album in a beautiful waltz called “Too Soon to Say Goodbye.” Dedicated to her friend, the late Art Buchwald, Simon recorded the song, when she was sick and she admits that she sounds a bit hoarse, but it is the rough and heartbreaking feeling in her voice that gives this song its magic.  Perhaps not the overriding tone of the album, but “Too Soon to Say Goodbye,” has the up close and personal sound that makes Simon’s work not only highly enjoyable, but at times painfully relatable.

Writing the album was a beautiful collaboration between family, and a close-knit group of musicians.  This Kind of Love featured a band of guitarists – offering beautiful fingerpicking guitar riffs and melodies- musical director Peter Calo, co-writer David Saw, bassist Lincoln Goines, drummer Robbie Ameen, and percussionists Cyro Baptista and Ricky Marotta.

While only a few of the tracks were mentioned in this review, each of them offers their own unique beauty and perspective.  This Kind of Love is the kind of album we’re going to be listening to over and over again.

Reviewed August 2008

About our reviewer Natalie Pinkis:  Natalie Pinkis is a 19-year-old singer/songwriter from California.  Her insightful songs with their piano accompaniment, reminiscent of Alanis Morissette and Sarah McLachlan, have captivated audiences and generated a great interest from those within the music industry.  Right now, Natalie is recording a full-length CD and completing a Borders Bookstore Tour.  Check out her music at http://www.myspace.com/nataliepinkis!

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