Another elegantly great pop record from Mann, continuing the run that she started with Bachelor No 2 and that has since taken in Lost in Space, The Forgotten Arm [*], @#%&*! Smilers and now Charmer.
Musically, it's a turn for the sunnier, although certainly not lyrically; my early favourite, "Labrador", offers perhaps the most vivid contrast, brightly chiming instrumentation (piano and synths especially, those having replaced guitar as Mann's main instrument since Bachelor - though the electric guitar is a highlight when it does show up, as in the second half of other early highlight "Soon Enough"), uppish mid-tempo pop tones, soaring chorus, and an extended metaphor for the singer's inability to change in the face of a hopeless, unhealthy relationship.
Having said that, though, I've spent so much time listening to Mann's music, absorbing the sweet-sourness that's one of its greatest pleasures, that I don't know if I could hear anything recorded by her as uncomplicatedly upbeat, even if, unprecedentedly, it had lyrics to match. And it's also that amount of immersion in her music that makes it impossible for me to tell just how good, actually, Charmer is (though its best moments certainly bear comparison to anything she's done before) - how much of the way that I rate each of her records is driven by my personal receptiveness and associations at the time that I came across them (the more important those elements being, the more likely her earlier albums are to forever remain unsurpassable landmarks in my mind) - of course, the answer is that it doesn't matter, when each new record, and all of the old ones, continues to bring me so much pleasure.
Musically, it's a turn for the sunnier, although certainly not lyrically; my early favourite, "Labrador", offers perhaps the most vivid contrast, brightly chiming instrumentation (piano and synths especially, those having replaced guitar as Mann's main instrument since Bachelor - though the electric guitar is a highlight when it does show up, as in the second half of other early highlight "Soon Enough"), uppish mid-tempo pop tones, soaring chorus, and an extended metaphor for the singer's inability to change in the face of a hopeless, unhealthy relationship.
Having said that, though, I've spent so much time listening to Mann's music, absorbing the sweet-sourness that's one of its greatest pleasures, that I don't know if I could hear anything recorded by her as uncomplicatedly upbeat, even if, unprecedentedly, it had lyrics to match. And it's also that amount of immersion in her music that makes it impossible for me to tell just how good, actually, Charmer is (though its best moments certainly bear comparison to anything she's done before) - how much of the way that I rate each of her records is driven by my personal receptiveness and associations at the time that I came across them (the more important those elements being, the more likely her earlier albums are to forever remain unsurpassable landmarks in my mind) - of course, the answer is that it doesn't matter, when each new record, and all of the old ones, continues to bring me so much pleasure.
