By Elyssa A. Goldstein
On her sophomore album, Vanessa Carlton attempts to make the transition from breakout pop-rock star to a respected singer-songwriter-pianist. More mature lyrical content and complicated piano melodies based on the classical composers that inspired Carlton when she first began playing piano at age three are the framework for Harmonium. Carlton co-produced the album and co-wrote four out of the eleven tracks with her boyfriend, Stephan Jenkins, the former front-man of Third Eye Blind.
One of the most obvious themes found throughout the tracks on Harmonium are the complexities of more adult, sexual relationships. In the bridge of her first single off the record, "White Houses," Carlton recollects her first sexual experience with startling honesty: "My first time, hard to explain / rush of blood, and a little bit of pain." On "Afterglow" Carlton describes the joy of finding that all-encompassing love many people her age are still trying desperately to find. "C'est la vie" is a funky anthem for being able to break free from a relationship that does more harm than good.
Like on her debut album Be Not Nobody, Carlton employs her knowledge of her instrument and lyrical-string arrangements to compliment her mezzo-soprano vocals. However, it is with Harmonium that Carlton is able to shift away from the more radio-friendly chord progressions of her contemporaries and delight the true music fan with more chromatic melodies and some less-commonly used instruments such as the mandolin and the harp.
Carlton also showcases more of her range on this album, both vocally and stylistically. Like some of the piano prodigies that have come before her, most notably Sarah McLachlan and Tori Amos, Carlton is able to write a tune that needs only the piano to illustrate her message. Both "Papa" and the bonus track "The Wreckage" rely solely on Carlton's piano melody to create depth. Other efforts, such as "Private Radio" and 'She Floats," feel overproduced at times, with not enough attention paid to the beauty of the words. "Private Radio" has programmed loops and "She Floats" features haunting strings echoed by a similarly haunting chorus that in the end sounds more like the soundtrack from a horror movie than the effect of someone floating.
Carlton succeeds in her attempt to become a more established musical figure. "Never mix business with pleasure" seems not to apply to Carlton, Jenkins and Harmonium-the child of their mutual love for music and one another.