Carrie Newcomer

Before & After

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published March 8, 2010 by Jessica Phillips

Carrie’s rich, womanly voice is a welcome respite from the din of girlish voices found on radio today. With quiet confidence, she embodies introspective lyrics like I forgave myself for what didn’t matter on the title track, which features Mary Chapin Carpenter. Her songwriting brings elegance to everyday images of trains, apple festivals and maple syrup, and meaning to lyrics both childlike (I got waylaid by the morning sun / and I got absolutely nothing done), and weighty (In the window of a crisis we can build a better frame). However, Carrie rarely reaches beyond her mid-tempo ballads, leaving listeners to wonder just how powerful her fully unleashed alto voice might be.