• Send us Mail
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Join our Facebook Group
  • Subscribe to our RSS Feed
  • Search Site

Polari Magazine

  • Home
  • Up Front
    • Editorial
    • Clementine: The Living Fashion Doll
    • Polari Safari
    • WTF? Friday
    • Bulletin Board
    • Polari Facts
  • Features
    • Interviews
    • Features
    • Gallery
    • Opinion
    • Heroes & Villains
  • Community
    • Oral Histories
    • Coming Out Stories
    • Relationships
    • IDAHO
    • LGBT History Month
    • Blogs
  • Reviews
    • Books
    • Film and Television
    • Music
    • Stage
    • Visual Arts
    • Classics: Books
    • Classics: Film and Television
    • Classics: Music
  • About
    • About Polari Magazine
    • Contributors
    • Contact

You are here: Polari Magazine / Music / Three • Charlotte Church

Charlotte Church, Three, I Can Dream

I Can Dream – Charlotte Church

Three

★★★★★
Charlotte Church
25:47 • Alligator Wine • August 19, 2013
Little Bastard reviews
…………………………………………………………………………………………

I have the upmost respect for people who make music because they want to – people who make music in their garage then self-release it, or give it away for free, and are not concerned with making money or chart positions. It’s music that’s born out of passion. And Charlotte Church is the last person who I expected to be saying that about.

Artists often get caught up in the record company’s idea of what they should be. So desperate to push artists into the most bankable bracket, they end up trying to make their own versions of existing artist. Amy Studt was turned into the next Avril Lavigne when she was clearly more of a pop Fiona Apple; Kate Nash was turned into the next Lily Allen when she was really more akin to Courtney Love; and Charlotte Church, when she wasn’t being milked for her soprano talents, was being forced into Britney Spears territory when really she had more in common with Alison Goldfrapp and Sarah Brightman. Now on her 3rd self-released EP, titled Three, Charlotte has banished her previous child prodigy persona and undergone a stunning ambient makeover worthy of the most authentic of artists.

From the day she appeared on MTV Base singing the jazz standard ‘Summertime’, I’ve had a soft spot for Charlotte Church, and enjoyed her foray into pop music a great deal. But it wasn’t until the hearing ‘Glitterbombed’, from her last EP Two that I was even aware of her new ambient direction.

New EP Three firmly cements her transition from pop starlet to ambient siren, with a strong collection of beautiful and innovative songs that sprawl through prog rock opera to post-rock torch songs.

Opener ‘Sparrow’ sets the mood perfectly, with its somber but evocative melody, with its folk dips and post-rock punch. ‘Remains’ is a beautiful slab of haunting experimental rock, like ‘The Great Gig In The Sky’ being covered by a young Sarah Brightman, and leads beautifully to ‘Like A Fool’. It washes over me like Sigur Ros on a summers evening, and is the most tender thing I’ve heard so far.

You box me up,
So you can cut me in half –

Charlotte purrs on the beautiful ‘Magicians Assistant’, all post trip hop with lush strings and vocals that go from a whisper to a cry as the track builds tempo and begins to rock us, turning into a slab of abstract Prince funk that spirals out of control, leaving us with a vaudevillian piano. Yep, it’s wickedly bonkers.

‘I Can Dream’ is the most interesting thing here, and that’s saying something. It has an almost drum ‘n’ bass like groove to it, and the most overt songwriting on display here, but also the noisiest guitars before it drops down to its bare bones again. It reminds me of ‘I’m Deranged’ by Bowie (only ever a compliment) with its subtle beginnings, jungle leanings and its funk rock crescendo. Very exciting indeed. The powerful closing track ‘Water Tower’, and its stunning music video, further help to banish all memory of the previous life of Charlotte Church, closing the EP with the high drama I’ve come to expect from her recent output.

Make no mistake, there’s not a pop song in sight here. What we are treated to is a sonic experience that not only hangs together as a more solid body of work than its predecessors, but also shows Charlotte to be one of the most exciting “new” artists releasing music today. Despite hearing references to Goldfrapp, Sigur Ros and Pink Floyd through out the songs here, along with a splattering of iamamiwhoami and Sarah Brightman bonkersness, Three really doesn’t sound like anything else. It’s a record that feels truly unique in its composition, which is a rarity these days. The fact that it was created by a 27 year old opera singer who first came to the public’s attention during a phone in on This Morning should not only be mentioned but also celebrated.

Charlotte’s extensive vocal training makes her voice the lead instrument in this symphony, and what an instrument it is. Although not pushed to the fore in the way it once was, Charlotte’s voice is still the heart of this collection of songs, and rightly so, as she posses one of the most stunning voices in modern music. Church is a strong young women, creating her own musical path on her own terms, and I only hope that people give this the time it deserves, as any music lovers life would be much better with this EP in it.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr
  • Pinterest

Search Polari

Latest Posts

  • Polari Magazine 2008-2014December 3, 2014 - 6:16 pm
  • Tearing Up Their Map: An Interview with LambDecember 2, 2014 - 2:45 pm
  • Future Islands • GigDecember 2, 2014 - 1:41 pm
  • Puppets with Attitude (at Christmas)December 1, 2014 - 6:30 pm
  • The Aesthetic of Voyeurism: Interview with Antonio Da SilvaDecember 1, 2014 - 1:25 pm
  • Broke With Expensive Taste • Azealia BanksNovember 28, 2014 - 3:59 pm
  • Royalty Strutting on an American College Stage: Miss and Mr. Gay ISU 2014November 27, 2014 - 2:59 pm
  • Bright Light Bright Light: Everything I Ever WantedNovember 26, 2014 - 11:15 am
  • Jaime Nanci And The Blueboys: ‘Toy’ TalkNovember 25, 2014 - 4:09 pm

About Polari Magazine

Polari Magazine is an LGBT arts and culture magazine that explores the subculture by looking at what is important to the people who are in it. It’s about the lives we lead, not the lifestyles we’re supposed to lead.

Its content is informed & insightful, and features a diverse range of writers from every section of the community. Its intent is to help LGBT readers learn about their own heritage and to sustain a link between the present and the past.

Polari is designed to nurture the idea of community, whether that be social and political, or artistic and creative. It is your magazine, whether you want to read it, or whether you want to get involved in it, if you're gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans, or queer.

Polari Magazine is all these: it's a gay online magazine; it's a gay and lesbian online magazine; it's an LGBT arts and culture magazine. Ultimately, it is a queer magazine.

Latest Posts

  • Polari Magazine 2008-2014December 3, 2014 - 6:16 pm
  • Tearing Up Their Map: An Interview with LambDecember 2, 2014 - 2:45 pm
  • Future Islands • GigDecember 2, 2014 - 1:41 pm
  • Puppets with Attitude (at Christmas)December 1, 2014 - 6:30 pm
  • The Aesthetic of Voyeurism: Interview with Antonio Da SilvaDecember 1, 2014 - 1:25 pm
  • Broke With Expensive Taste • Azealia BanksNovember 28, 2014 - 3:59 pm
  • Royalty Strutting on an American College Stage: Miss and Mr. Gay ISU 2014November 27, 2014 - 2:59 pm
  • Bright Light Bright Light: Everything I Ever WantedNovember 26, 2014 - 11:15 am
  • Jaime Nanci And The Blueboys: ‘Toy’ TalkNovember 25, 2014 - 4:09 pm

Twitter

Tweets by @PolariMagazine

Archive

  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • July 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • May 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
© Copyright - Polari Magazine - Wordpress Theme by Kriesi.at
  • scroll to top
  • Send us Mail
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Join our Facebook Group
  • Subscribe to our RSS Feed
Website Privacy & Cookies