Waves & the Both of Us [EXPLICIT LYRICS]

Charlotte Sometimes

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 6, 2008)
• Original Release Date: May 6, 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics
• Label: Geffen Records
• ASIN: B00175G7KE
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #25,628 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

About the Artist

Once, years ago, Charlotte Sometimes traveled out to a field in Pennsylvania to perform at a balloon festival. She had no idea where she'd ended up, and instead of the multitudes she imagined attended such events, found only a handful of onlookers--festival workers, at that. "High school," she explains, and it becomes a bit clearer how this guitar-wielding, soul-bearing spark of a songstress spent her formative years.

From a children's book, she borrowed the name of a precocious boarding school student who finds herself transported 40 years into the past, into the body of another girl. This curiously dark story of time-travel and interchangeable identities, written in 1969 by Penelope Farmer, captivated Charlotte and embedded inside her restless mind the inspiration for detailing her own exploits, into that tentative space between confrontation and escape. The idea that you could actually be someone else--that people often did adopt alter egos, depending on the circumstance--fascinated her.

Maybe the fact that she was adopted had something to do with it. For a long time, Charlotte didn't have a clue about her actual birth date, or ethnic background for that matter (her mother has blonde hair and blue eyes; she does not). "The simple things that everyone else knows, you don't know," she explains. "It doesn't seem like a big deal to anyone else, but it's such a big deal when you're young and you don't know anything about where you came from."

Dead set on coming from somewhere, she threw herself into the rigors of dance and musical theater until age 14, when she traded in her leotard for a guitar. It was a relief, she says, to no longer be forced to stare into a mirror all day and told to suck in this and suck in that. Instead, she began writing songs and playing them for people in her small town of Wall, New Jersey (just north of Brick--no joke), eventually making treks to New York and, on at least one occasion, to a poorly attended Pennsylvania balloon festival.

Charlotte Sometimes' enchanting debut full-length, Waves and the Both of Us, is a product of insomnia, airplanes, and bodies of water, not to mention countless hours of daydreaming to the mesmerizing sounds of Billie Holiday, the Everly Brothers, Jeff Buckley, and Fiona Apple, among others. An allusion to the year to which Farmer's protagonist travels, the title isn't so much an overt reference to the book as it is a recognition of the fact every one of us is stuck somewhere, trying to be someone else, or at least play the role of one of our personalities. Also named for one of its songs ("Waves and the Both of Us"), the record tells a story of the currents that pass through our lives, some more uplifting or traumatic than others, Charlotte says. "It's about all the different waves that live inside my head and heart, and how they affect others, myself, and the person I want or pretend to be."

It's difficult to say whether Charlotte's onstage persona is an outlet from these personalities or just one of them. Probably both. As a performer, she's flippant and seductive, and as a songwriter, she gravitates toward the shadier elements in life, like spiders and Valium ("Sweet Valium High"), using the eclectic imagery to dissect the dynamics between women and men. "The whole idea of the power struggle between a man and a woman entertains me--the idea of what a woman's role is, if it's to be submissive to a man, or if it's to be in charge of a man, if it's to be equal to a man."

Leave it to a Cypress Hill lyric to score one for the girls. On "How I Could Just Kill a Man," Charlotte reinterprets the refrain of a rap classic, graciously turning male bravado on its head. It's a disarmingly upbeat and happy song colored with darkness and condescension. Her warm, amber voice isn't murderous, per se, but you believe it when she says she's "killed" men, metaphorically speaking. And still, you smile and move your feet--proof once again that dancing and misery are not mutually exclusive.

"It's almost like you can dance your troubles away," Charlotte says. Take another rosy song, "Ex-Girlfriend Syndrome," which digs relentlessly inside an ex-boyfriend's head. "I always imagine teenage girls in their car on a summer day just dancing around in their car listening to the songs, and being, like yeah, `F**k you!' A lot of the record is about getting those kinds of feelings out, but you don't have to mope about it." Throughout the album, beats--both instrumental and electronic--are a vital part of the drama, pushing the record forward and allowing the music and stories to pulsate underneath your skin.

Meanwhile, the somber, piano-laced "Pilot," tells a different story, filling in the unspoken space between two people. Charlotte readily admits she's not terribly successful at relationships, and this disheartening recollection is just one example. "I feel like, sometimes, people pretend to be so much more connected than they really are." It's a beautifully patient, if melancholy, glimpse into a familiar and hopeless situation.

While her high school years yielded a few homemade EPs and one live CD, recorded when she was only 14, Waves and the Both of Us is Charlotte's first fully realized album--call it a graduation of sorts. Having poured so many of her influences into the album, she's not entirely sure which genre it's intended for, except that it pulls liberally from throughout her own personal arsenal of loves and neuroses, including dark poetry, dance beats, and indie folk. Her brain buzzes constantly, and she confesses to an obsessive streak. Why limit herself to one genre, she figures, when she can draw from everything she's ever done? Music is mood, first and foremost, and in the midst of diversity, her songs remain alluringly bare and revelatory.

"I want to make sure that whole emotional connection is in each and every word and in each and every note of my songs, because if that's not there, then what's the point in music? Music is supposed to transport you somewhere. It's supposed to make you feel connected to something," she says. ""I would hope that I'm making a connection with people because if not, it's almost like masturbating when it comes to music. That's fun, but sex is better."

Product Description

Charlotte Sometimes has been singing since before she could talk. Even as a baby, music was the language she understood best. Her charisma and love of an audience seemed a perfect match for musical theater, so she spent her first 13 years in a blur of voice and dance lessons. But as an adolescent, all that staring in the mirror drew Charlotte to a different form of self-expression: poetry. She decided to teach herself to play guitar so she could set her poems to her favorite medium, and that's when she discovered her true passion.

By the time she finished high school, Charlotte had written over 100 songs. She pursued her music career relentlessly, and now her hard work is paying off: her debut album, "Waves in the Both of Us," is set for release summer 2008. In the meantime, she's touring the country with her band, spreading her thoughtful lyrics and eclectic set list to everyone who'll listen. Which turns out to be quite a crowd.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not just another singer/songwriter!, May 25, 2008

By	SPNfangirl "InKripkeWeTrust" (Southern California) - See all my reviews

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With all these young singer/songwriters pouring in like a flood these days, the music has always been decent enough but they've all become lost in a sea of familiarity with voices...well, less than memorable. I say this not because they're bad but because they all tend to sound alike after awhile. I feared the same would happen with Charlotte Sometime's debut album, WAVES & THE BOTH OF US, but I couldn't have been more wrong. The pop/rock songs are all pretty short but oh so sweet...and sometimes even a little sour. The melodies have more of an edge to them with mostly rockin' upbeat tempos and personal, gritty lyrics ("Do you think of me when she screams your name?" / "I still think the problem is you."). Her voice and music is addictive, distinct, and impressively unique in a rather stagnant world of singing clones. I highly recommend for something a bit different.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not only a great debut--an AWESOME album!, May 9, 2008

By	Louis S. Mosier (Chesapeake, VA, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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Charlotte Sometimes' debut CD, "Wave & the Both of Us", is kind of hard to define in style--edgy, funky, singer/songwriter meets rockergrrl meets pop diva--but it's easy to define in quality--amazing, topknotch, kick@$$. Although only 20, Charlotte (not her true first name--she's not telling) has been performing for years and her experience shows. Her lyrics are mature, dark and edgy but with a strength and spunkiness that suggest she's no navelgazer but a fighter. Far from being bitter or cynical, however, the end result is positive and engaging; kind of "life can really suck but, screw it, lets go have some fun." As I said earlier, her style is eclectic--some pop, some alt rock--but her voice, energy and musical prowess make it all sound great. Her sound is a bit of Fiona Apple, Shirley Manson (Garbage), and Gwen Stefani, a pinch of Regina Spektor and Liz Phair, plus a touch of Natalie Walker, Alison Sudol (A Fine Frenzy) and Ingrid Michaelson, but its a voice that's all her own. I had the chance to see Charlotte perform in a small club in Virginia, and she was great live; polished, self-assured and strong. I also spoke to her after the show and found her friendly and genuine. I bought the CD the day it hit the stores and have been playing it constantly. You know how some albums take a few listens to get into them? This one grabbed me from track one and hasn't let me go yet. It's no exaggeration to say that this CD could be the best debut of the year and one of the top albums of 2008; all from a Jersey girl who took her stage name from a kid's book. Way to go, Charlotte (or whatever your real name is)...you surely have a great career ahead of you!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Waves for All of Us, May 16, 2008

By	Andy Wood "Andyemt" (Jersey Shore) - See all my reviews

It is never a good time to be different, at least not in the music biz.
Fortune favors the familiar, hence the endles list of soundalikes and wannabes that populate the airwaves and pop charts.
Then along came Charlotte, where different is the difference.
Dark, romantic lyrics and well thought out, punchy, arrangements, make this album accessible on any number of levels. When one is going through a soul wrenching relationship break up, or simply popping down to the Acme for a litre of milk and some Advil. The music works, it is real, vibrant, polished and different. Long may this young talent spew her honey tinged venom. Charlotte, you rock, and wail and cry and generally bring a joyous new sound to a humdrum world. Stop reading and order the CD, you will never regret it.