Brandy Clark in Bloomington, MN

Although the two singer/songwriters operate on separate sides of the Americana and country divide, a pairing of
Brandy Clark
and
Brandi Carlile
was perhaps inevitable. Not only do they share similar names, they're of a similar age, both were raised in the Pacific Northwest, and both are songwriters who prize precision and handsome melodies.
does exist at this common ground, accentuating the careful craft within
Clark
's compositions by keeping things intimate and unadorned. To that end,
Carlile
moved
far away from Nashville, hunkering down in
Rick Rubin
's Shangri-La Studio and cutting the entire album live with such rock-oriented players as drummer
Matt Chamberlain
and bassist
Sebastian Steinberg
. Make no mistake,
hasn't made a rock album; amplifiers aren't cranked, the rhythms are not juiced. Rather,
cannily revives the immediacy of
12 Stories
without sacrificing the subtle blessings bestowed by studio pros. Throughout
, the instrumental is empathetic to the point it can seem almost invisible, letting
relax and sigh as she acknowledges insecurities and tells tales of heartbreak, steering away from both the clever wit and story songs that helped build her reputation. It's not a break so much as a shift in focus:
's steady lyrical hand and clear voice are placed at the forefront, conveying a sense of quiet strength that seems to call out for the kind of unvarnished production that
provides.
benefits from her songs being heard without the pleasing Nashville accouterments that decorated
Big Day in a Small Town
Your Life Is a Record
: in these spare settings, the emotional pull of her songs is undeniable. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine