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Fourteen years after her biggest hit, Vanessa Carlton is finally free.
In 2002, the singer-pianist's career was peaking. She signed to A&M Records, and her breakout single, "One Thousand Miles"—a piano-pop earworm about unrequited young love—became an MTV staple and top-10 hit. But Carlton refers to this time in her life as "when I was a part of the machine." Producers made decisions about how she should sound, while publicists crafted her image in the mold of late-'90s pop stars like Michelle Branch and Avril Lavigne. She says now she didn't feel real.
It wasn't until 2011 that Carlton escaped the major-label machine. Tellingly, her fifth and latest album is called Liberman, pronounced with a soft "i," as in "liberating." Written and recorded in England and Nashville, Carlton focused her own impulses and musical direction for the first time in her career. And she's not particularly worried about fan reaction.
"People can take it or leave it," says Carlton, 35, by telephone, as she tends to her nearly 1-year-old daughter at home in Nashville. "It has its own very distinct sound. But one thing you can't say is that it's not a fully formed, honest statement."
Released on Canadian label Dine Alone Records, Liberman is not Carlton's first independent release—Rabbits on the Run, her previous album, came out via Razor and Tie—but she says she went into this project with the mentality of, "I'm going to execute a concept and not answer to anyone but the artists I'm collaborating with."
The classical piano runs from her youth still appear in songs like "Willows" and "Blue Pool." But Liberman—named after her grandfather—expands into vaster sonic territories compared to her previous work. Songs like "Take It Easy" and the single "Operator" buzz and throb with synths far removed from the organic sounds of her youth, electronic elements placing her closer to bands like Beach House or Stars. Lyrically, Carlton also explores previously uncharted themes, particularly her own journey of losing, then actually finding and holding onto, true love. Carlton wrote the majority of Liberman's songs years ago, readying them for a 2014 release, but when she found out she was pregnant, she decided to hold the record until last October. Even after sitting on the songs for two years, Carlton says Liberman—and the sense of freedom its recording provided her—still feels fresh.
"It still resonated with me when it came time to re-create this record live." she says. "We've been able to re-create a lot of the sounds onstage. It won't be your straightforward, conventional singer-songwriter show. It's a bit more psychedelic than that, and we're trying to go into those sounds that we spent so much time making on the album."
SEE IT: Vanessa Carlton plays Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St., with Skye Steele, on Saturday, Jan. 16. 9 pm. $22 advance, $25 day of show. 21+.
Willamette Week