Customer Reviews

Sometimes A Circle

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When I first heard "Sometimes A Circle" on the radio, I had to call in to find out who did this song. Bought the CD today... after 3 full listens, the whole record is stunning. Ms. Goffin is a brilliant (and gorgeous) singer and songwriter. I can't think of any current artist that writes this smart and makes it so addictively listenable. Damn.. THIS IS GOOD.

Louise Goffin's new CD is a brilliant collection of great songs and great production from a songwriter who could have been handicapped by her pedigree. But Goffin is obviously not letting anything get in the way of her talent. She's written some truly inventive, and memorable songs, and produced surprising and original tracks with the help of Greg Wells.
The title track has a fun, busy, doubletime groove that breaks down to a contrastingly dreamy bridge. Both sections are are good but together they're great.
"Instant Photo", the second single, is so catchy, I don't know why it's not a top 40 hit.
"I Can't Remember Why" is my personal favorite. I love the key change from verse to chorus, which is both surprising and beautiful.
I could review each and every song but, somebody once said, "writing about music is like dancing about architecture." ...or something like that. The point is: Buy the record. I Loved IT. Maybe you will too.

I wasn't sure I even liked this album when I first purchased it, but after the 3rd play of the CD, I was a born-again convert (as are about 6 of my friends who have heard it since its purchase).
I have 2 older vinyl albums but they are so far removed from this CD I wasn't sure what to expect.
Not only is Louise's voice wonderful (just like her mom's - Carole King), so is her backup band. The combination of the voice and the music are what make this CD so sensational. In the words of a friend that just heard it this weekend - "What a haunting album". After trying to fall asleep the other night, all that was going through my head were several of the songs from this album. Couldn't think of a word to describe it until my friend made that comment. You will not waste your money on the purchase of this superb CD.

There are a number of ghosts swirling around Louise Goffin's first release in almost fourteen years.....those of her parentage, the ones of her own nymphet-imaged past (real or imagined) and those of her contemporaries, many of whom have seen their careers go on to bigger and better things. These artists, amoung them Aimee Mann, Sheryl Crow, Suzanne Vega, Sarah MacLachlan, Alanis Morissette and, especially (in my opinion, on this disc), Rickie Lee Jones, are constantly peeking around corners throughout SOMETIMES A CIRCLE, yet Goffin never gets lost in the mix. Showing a maturity as a vocalist and songwriter that is light years ahead of anything else she has ever done, Goffin makes it very clear that this CD is her's and her's alone.
Gone is the sassy teen pop of 1979's KID BLUE and 1981's LOUISE GOFFIN, as well as the glossy production sheen of 1988's THIS IS THE PLACE. Instead, we have a rawer, more stripped-down sound. Opening with the beat-and-sequenced-heavy title track, Goffin makes it apparent right from the start that words are VERY important to her now ("There's a lot going on/But it all adds up to nothing/Sometimes a circle feels like a direction"). Up next is the swaying Bob Marley-meets-Robert Johnson flavored "Instant Photo." All scratchy and twangy, you can just picture this one being finger-picked on a porch down south. "I Can't Remember Why", a song of regret and disbelief over past actions, features some of the CD's most charming and heartfelt lyrics ("I saw you in the supermarket/Looking like a work of art/When everyone had told me you were dead/Radiating happiness while I spilled chocolate on my dress/Then I turned a brighter shade of red"), and leaves you wondering.....is it about a former lover? Maybe a family member? Whatever the case may be, the song is lovely, with a stunning keyboard riff. "Sleep With Me Instead" is also charming, with it's wide-eyed innocence, windwoods and "Why not me?!?" yearning. We've all been there before.....human safety nets for those jerks and bimbos who don't realize that WE'RE THE RIGHT ONE FOR THEM!!! Goffin gives word and form to that glorious pain of coming back time and time again, just being there no matter what the hurt. The hypnotic "What If I Were Talking To Me" is captivating in it's early minimalism....all single note piano, throbbing bass and persuasive percussion, topped with a floating, airy vocal....before it takes a left turn into sonic quirkiness. "Only Water" is probably the one track on SOMETIMES A CIRCLE that could have easily fit on a past Goffin release, whatwith it's shuffling beat and soaring chorus, while "Saved By The Bell" is haunting, yet at the same time brutally open and honest ("It's a good thing/You caught me at a bad time"). One of the CD's strongest cuts, "Just Bone And Breath" has a heavy Elvis Costello vibe going on, both musically (notice how the verses melt into the chorus!) and lyrically ("I want to shake your shadow/I want to tell it to quit/But when the devils start talking/You know there's no forgetting it"). This track is the best example of how Goffin's two creative sides (singer and songwriter) have come together to form a new, and vastly improved/matured, whole. "Clicking To The Next Slide" has a fascinating voyueristic quality to it.....the music is secondary to the lyrics, and rather than being sung to it's almost as if we're in Goffin's head, listening to her (slightly crazed) thoughts. "Light In Your Eyes" is a gorgeous love song, tender and warm, with a unique Burt Bacharach-backing-Aimee Mann feel to it. Another high point is the sexy, groovin' "What A Waste Of A Perfectly Good Hotel Room", with it's New Orleans-flavored horns and attitude (I can see this song being conceived during Mardi Gras!) and heart on her sleeve lyrics ("I want to sleep with the phone in bed/And hang on every word that's said/But there's a thousand miles of dial tone inbetween"). The disc closes with the hushed, intense "Quiet Anesthesia" (who would have ever thought someone could work dipping cookies into milk into a song like this?!?). So......do I have any gripes about the CD? One or two......I wish the lyrics had been enclosed. You know there's some real poetry here, but at times Goffin's vocals are so hushed and introspective that you just can't make them out. I also wish there was a rocker along the lines of "Jimmy And The Tough Kids" off of KID BLUE, or a soaring vocal powerhouse similar to THIS IS THE PLACE's "Deep Kiss." But all this is stuff we can look forward to on the next CD. Let's just hope that, after such an amazingly strong return, we don't have to wait another fourteen years for that disc to materialize!

Having enjoyed the other three Louise Goffin albums, I was fairly confident that I'd like the songs on her new one. One listen confirmed not only that, but also the fact that Goffin has excelled herself with Sometimes A Circle. It's by far her strongest effort (at least to my ears). Her voice is really supple, and the production and instrumentation (which I didn't always favour so much on the earlier albums) is perfectly suited to her here. The songwriting is consistently great. Bravo

Louise Goffin's return to CD works well. The title tune's breezy melody masks an intricate lyric, "Summertime comes; it's hotter than heaven; she picks up her mascarra at the 7-11; there's a lot going on but nothing is happening; make your acquaintance; she's high maintenance." "Instant Photo" opens with a scratchy old record sound and has a distinctive guitar part that's oddly addictive. "I Can't Remember Why" is an early memory song with a very simple kindergarten-like melody that works well. "Sleep With Me Instead" is a soft samba-like track punctuated with the trill of a clarinet, "With Frank Sinatra singing and you stretched out on my bed, like I said...sleep with me instead." Heavy bass thumps on the midtempo toe-tapper "What If I Were Talkin' To Me," "More than a little syncopated recreation just don't seem to give me what I need." Beautiful background vocals dress the pop track "Only Water." "Saved by the Bell" is a whimsical track where changing tempos give a rootless feel. "Just Bone & Breath" is a track with stops & starts. "Clicking to the Next Slide" is a dreamy track with the slightly disjointed song construction giving the feel like looking at different scenes in a slide show. "Light in Your Eyes" is one of my favorites on the CD with a pretty melody and a soft jazz feel. "What a Waste of a Perfectly Good Hotel Room" is sweet pop fluff, "I'm lonely with this loaded rental car." The CD concludes with a wispy mood piece "Quiet Anesthesia." Louise Goffin seems to be adventurously experimenting. It works more often than not. I hope Dreamworks sticks with her and allows us to hear more from this talented singer.

When I first heard "Sometimes A Circle" on the radio, I had to call in to find out who did this song. Bought the CD today... after 3 full listens, the whole record is stunning. Ms. Goffin is a brilliant (and gorgeous) singer and songwriter. I can't think of any current artist that writes this smart and makes it so addictively listenable. Damn.. THIS IS GOOD.

Long awaited new release from Goffin doesn't dissapoint. As was the case with her excellent "6-star" Warner Brothers release a few years back "THIS IS THE PLACE", (where is this on cd??? warner brothers???) the songwriting here is very good with a different insight - she writes like she is talking to a friend about what happened to her. Standout track for me was "Light In Your Eyes". Good to hear she still has what it takes to make me think.

Louise Goffin is a breath of fresh air in the stale, status quo world of pop music. Like her mother before her, Goffin has made a unique record with staying power. Carole King's "Tapestry" album has been one of my favorites since its release. Over thirty years later, I still listen to it over and over again. And now, Louise Goffin's "Sometimes a Circle" has earned the rank of favorite as well. I must admit that I "discovered" Goffin because of a Gap commercial she did with her mother. She sang her lines and I thought, what an incredible voice. "Sometimes a Circle" proves that not only does Goffin have an incredible voice, but she's a great stylist and writer as well. Stand out songs for me: "Instant Photo," "Sleep With Me Instead," and "What a Waste of a Perfectly Good Hotel Room." But all the songs on this disc are solid, enjoyable, and loaded with interesting views of life. And while her talent shows she's her mother's daughter, she possesses her own style. She may have inherited the talent, but she's made it her own. This CD should not be missed!

This review is to add some balance. I recognise that other reviewers really like this album. But if you like Carole King's music, it's odds on you won't like this. Her parents are great pop songwriters, but Louise has too many issues getting in the way of popular appeal.