The Exponent Online


Friday, 2/9/2001	5 day quick link 2/8 \| 2/7 \| 2/6 \| 2/5 \| 2/2

Musician releases crossover album

By Alicia Swan
Staff Writer

The blue-haired siren known as Eliza Carthy fights her way into music mainstream with her latest release, "Angels and Cigarettes."

To loyal fans of Carthy, this crossover was anticipated but dreaded; another Celtic deity sells out for a piece of the big time. An underground Celtic music muse and artist, the fiddle-playing Carthy steps away from English folk-pop, following in the footsteps of recent music headline-makers Dido and Beth Orton.

Unlike her predecessors, Carthy is neither amazingly beautiful nor reserved. Instead, she brings her raw emotion and astounding talent with her. This, coupled with her inability to sugarcoat the truth, makes a name for Carthy with her third musical release.

Mix Ani Difranco's blunt nature with Sarah McLachlan's sweet voice, throw in a dash of Bjork's tendency for heartbreaking emotion-filled vocal tremors, and you’ll have something remarkably close to Carthy's style.

Well-rounded and poignant, "Angels and Cigarettes" reaches something few have been able to see in themselves, let alone been able to articulate into words — the often ugly truth about themselves.

In "The Company of Men" she proclaims, "I have made myself a fool in the company of men/I have cried in the night with no light and then done it again." The ballad floats along as a soul-bearing confession of Carthy's romantic ramblings and her unwillingness to be beautiful.

The oddly but sweetly romantic "Whole" details Carthy's desire to become one with her significant other, going into excruciating detail of what she would do if she were to inhabit her lover's body.

The entire album feels like an intriguing puzzle, each track harboring private meaning. At first the songs are intoxicating for their sound and soon enough one is drunk on the lyrics.

Carthy gives not only in her songs, but in the accompanying booklet; each song's lyrics are introduced with a little story about how she wrote the track.

However eloquent, Carthy's music will be indecipherable to some. The inspirational album could be overlooked for its lack of straightforwardness and its unconventional Celtic influences.

Overall, Carthy is an inspiring and fresh artist with room to grow and promise for a bright future. In a musical world where being beautiful and arrogant is overpriced, it is refreshing to have a real talent that is not half as shallow as those she performs among.