Customer Reviews

Chandelier

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I love Rachael Sage's new CD, "Chandelier"! The songs are an eclectic mix of strength, tenacity, and fragility as expressed in love, unrequited love, manipulated love, adultery, and the fantasies and disappointment inherent in so many love relationships. Sage's lyrics are pure poetry - intense, stunning, emotive. Her beautiful, edgy voice and keyboard arrangements capture the vitality and vulnerability that keep hope alive and enduring. The soulful echoes of a cello renders the tunes inviting and haunting, and the addition of trumpet and drums draws an upbeat sensibility. Other instruments include guitar, harmonica, accordion, and saxophone.

Every song on this CD is beautiful, evocative, and effective. "Vertigo" voices the haunting cries for freedom from a manipulative and adulterous relationship: "I feel what I feel/ Feel this is wrong/ And I should have run fast/ Before you led me on." The dark keyboard arpeggios are reminiscent of the powerful opening to "Paper Plane" from her previous release, "The Blistering Sun"The Blistering Sun. "Angel in my View" is an upbeat pop song expressing the musings of someone who falls in love with another who is unavailable: "...You're my only aching/ And I would gladly let you/ Paint me with white lies/ Come on and paint me with white lies."

"Blue Light" is gorgeous soft, jazzy, mystical number about muses and the songs they inspire and the healing that transpires through the metaphor of song. "Wishbone" is my favorite song from "Chandelier". It is a sublime wedding song with gorgeous imagery: "Butterflies crawling on the concrete lawn/ Telling me to love you if I'm gonna be strong/ Everything around me is an empty chair/ Don't know where I'm going unless you're there/ Phoenix is flying in a fiery sky/ Telling me to love you till the day I die/ Everything around me is an old wishbone/ It doesn't matter who says, you're my home." "Mexico" is a gorgeous cover and moody remix of Jay Clifford's yearning release.

Sage reminds me of Ani DiFranco, Tori Amos, Elvis Costello, and a little bit of The Indigo Girls. Her influences range from The Beatles to traditional Jewish music. This range gives her songs unforgettable hooks and a unique sound that can't go wrong. Buy this CD - you won't be disappointed! Every song pulses with Rachael's bright and compassionate spirit.

I had been a huge fan of hers from previous albums, but this one just doesn't do it for me. I was excited for this one by the high quality of the leading single, "Vertigo", which is indeed a fantastic song. But it stands out as a flower in a field of weeds. The rest of the album is simply not of the same caliber, and it now mostly sits on my shelf collecting duct. Bah.