Love, Save the Empty

Erin McCarley | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 6, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Universal Republic
• ASIN: B001G1L3S0
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #43,751 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Erin McCarley calls the music on her debut album, Love, Save the Empty, a document of her search for authenticity in herself and in others. If that sounds heavy, there's a reason why: According to McCarley, Loving You is about being honest at the beginning of a new relationship and saying, ` I have nothing left to give,' to this amazing person standing right in front of me. Sleepwalking profiles a cynic that can't hear it come back his own way. For the title track, McCarley was inspired to write a song about the effects stemming from a lack of role models in a parentless world. And yet the 11 songs collected here (songs that ignited an industry-wide frenzy when McCarley performed them at SXSW earlier this year) pull off the trick that all great pop performs: They do heavy philosophical lifting with a lightness that boosts the spirit. This is elegantly crafted, deeply melodic music that resounds with echoes of the Beatles and Aimee Mann, Alanis Morissette and Amy Winehouse.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice January 6, 2009

By MzC

Format:MP3 Music|Amazon Verified Purchase

The songs are great pop... light but with some meaning. A variety of moods, melodies, and instrumentation. If I had to compare this to anyone I would say I hear some Colbie Caillat, Norah Jones, Nellie McKay, even some Diana Krall. Good pleasant voice, nice to drive home to.

51 of 60 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Testosterone need not apply February 3, 2009

By Daniel Sweeney

Format:Audio CD

Grey's Anatomy is the scourge of indie rock. That show has taken many a respectable singer-songwriter, made one of their songs the soundtrack of an insufferably schmalzy "emotional" scene thereby completely ruining it for every card-carrying hipster with a sideways haircut who now has to attend concerts with love-struck soccer moms trying to appear hip and relevant. KT Tunstall, we hardly knew ye.

Ms. McCarley has managed a of triple crown of sorts by having her music licensed for use in not only Grey's, but also sister-programs-with-ovaries One Tree Hill and Kyle XY, plus it's being used in the trailer of the completely testosterone-free He's Just Not That Into You. So if you've never even heard her music, you probably get the impression that it won't exactly grow hair on your chest. And that it is easy to swallow. And you are correct.

Despite the fact that McCarley is not a risk-taker, she's got a great voice that can pull off a variety of styles from jazz, to pop to chamber-folk to -- heaven help me -- country, and she knows how to use it. I hear echoes of Tunstall and Sia and Alanis in there. And she writes strong melodies that stoke your emotions and stick with you after the music has died. And she looks like a hotter Meg Ryan. So yeah, for people like me that are trying to tear her down, she doesn't give much to work with.

I like this album, darnit.

So yeah, my man-card has been officially revoked. Which means I can finally watch Grey's Anatomy.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant!! January 11, 2009

By Barton T. Bobb

Format:MP3 Music|Amazon Verified Purchase

I consider myself a music afficionado and generally prefer edgier music across the modern rock spectrum (e.g. Three Days Grace, All-American Rejects, Saliva, Switchfoot), but this album by Erin McCarley is one of the best debut albums I have EVER heard. She has an amazing voice (think cross between KT Tunstall & Poe maybe, but better) and most of the songs are really catchy without being formulaic. The instrumentation used in several of the songs (incl strings, timpani, piano) is outstanding and lends additional flavor and originality to the song. Even the somewhat slower songs are not "snoozers" at all (except for track #4 maybe), but the catchy/more uptempo songs outnumber those slower ones by far anyway.

This was BY FAR the best $1.99 I have ever spent on music (as deal of the day recently), but I would GLADLY pay the current full price of $7.99 and still consider it a STEAL. This album, after I have fully "digested" it, may easily end up in my top 10 albums of all time (and I have A LOT to choose from :) )