Charity Chapman - Gordon The Northern

Charity Chapman ?Gordon The Northern
2006, Charity Chapman

Charity Chapman is just this gal, ya know?  Granted, she?s an incredibly talentedsongwriter?  and she has this incrediblysweet and vaguely smoky voice that makes you stop what you?re doing and findout just who that is singing on the radio. But the young woman who lived her early live in Pensacola, Florida andthen finished growing up in the verdant valleys of Colorado is as down to earthas they come.  It?s one of the reasonsher songwriting is so clear and honest; there are no pretensions with CharityChapman.  What you see, and what youhear, is what you get.  Its why, in spiteof remaining an Indie songwriter and performer, she?s seen her music featuredon Oprah, Felicity, Ugly Betty, andboth the US and UK versions of The XFactor.  Chapman?s EP, Gordon The Northern, is a collection ofold and new songs that are guaranteed to impress, and are likely to begin along artist/listener relationship.

The EP opens with ?If I Could Fly?, a song with manylevels.  A gorgeous love song with avaguely dark temperament, it is also a song of hope.  The song was featured in season 4 of Felicity, and has the distinction ofbeing the tune that Keri Russell?s character graduated to.  The mixed sense of unrequited love and dreamsbreaking upon new shore is dizzying, but perfectly maps the collision of oldand new desires and hope that are the watershed of adolescence on adulthood.  The song succeeds on the genuine sense ofstanding at the precipice of a new world, but looking back with the door to anold world not yet closed.  Chapmanherself sounds very much like Canadian chanteuse Maren Ord, and ingratiatesherself with her sweet, sweet voice. 

?Free? is an intriguing declaration of a movable self.  The song has a solid melody, and is packagedin an arrangement that is mellow on the surface but full of a deep energy.  Chapman?s voice shows many colors and shadingshere, and it?s easy to get wrapped up in the sound of her voice.  ?In My Room? is a song of heartbreak; ofsearching for an answer where none is to be found.  Chapman?s essential question, why he walkedaway, seems to pale in the face of the search itself.  The pain here is palpable, with a dramaticsense that is theatric in presentation and yet organic and real.  This mix is incredibly difficult to find; nota matter of craft but of honesty in the songwriting process.  Chapman maintains a strong pop sensibilitywithout sounding like she?s trying to write a pop song, an impressive achievementin and of itself.

Gordon The Northernis an intriguing perspective on the artistic development of a songwriter leftto her own devices.  Charity Chapmanopens with her most well-known song, and then moves on to two more recenttunes.  You can hear the depth andcomplexity of her talent and of her intellect sprout before your very ears on Gordon The Northern.  What?s most intriguing is that throughoutthe process, she never loses the twin roots of her talent: A delicious ear formelody and an integrity and honesty in her songwriting that is compelling.  Chapman manages to have it all on Gordon The Northern; she is an artistwho is creating meaningful and aesthetically pleasing art that just happens tobe commercially viable.  Take one listen,and you?ll be hooked.

Rating: 4.5 Stars(Out of 5)

Learn more about Charity Chapman at www.charitychapman.com or www.myspace.com/charitychapman. 

Source: http://wildysworld.blogspot.com/2012/01/charity-chapman-gordon-northern.html

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