Musician: Charlotte Cornfield
Album: Future Snowbird
Folk-rock is a difficult genre to pull together effectively. Yet, when folk and rock are brought together in a brilliant harmony, the result is a song that will reach out and touch the very heart of the listener. Charlotte Cornfield’s latest album Future Snowbird features such a blend of sounds.
Future Snowbird will be the Toronto native’s second album and was released March 11th via Consonant Records. Charlotte has been releasing music under her own name for the last 10 years, and Future Snowbird is a follow-up to the critically acclaimed Two Horses (http://charlottecornfield.com/bio/), which was released in 2011.
While her music is reminiscent of Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and Joni Mitchell, It’s also unique. Her voice is an earthy alto that wraps you in a warm, comforting blanket and melts into your soul like butter on toast.
“Mercury” includes Tim Darcy of Montreal’s Ought and is my favourite song on Future Snow-bird. Tim’s voice is strong but he doesn’t overpower Charlotte’s vocals when he joins her in the chorus and at key points in the song. They harmonize with one another while keeping at op-posite spectrums of the vocal scale. One of the things I love most about this song is the dra-matic yet soft introduction. It begins with light electronic music that slowly crescendos until accompanied by the folk-inspired guitar and steady drums. Charlotte’s vocals burst into the song and capture the listener’s attention. Perhaps the part that is the most fun is when the lyr-ics mention coming together and both Charlotte and Tim emphasize their duet. Charlotte draws attention to key words in the lyrics by saying them just a bit louder as the music abruptly stops.
“Time Bomb” is also a fantastic song, filled with all of the situations and feelings that burrow under our skin. Much like these instances, the piano used in the song works its way into the very marrow of your bones and festers there. The rhythmic plucking of the piano keys fits per-fectly with the theme and emotion of the lyrics. Charlotte’s vocals are equally dramatic and the lyrics seem more like words of warning and advice best taken.
Overall, I really enjoyed Future Snowbird and Charlotte’s talent as a musician is very obvi-ous. I would recommend this album to anyone faced experiences the ups and downs that come with life, and I would also suggest listening to this song when you are in the mood for some-thing different. The album would also be great company during study time.
Samantha Stevens is an aspiring writer who loves combining her love for literature with photography, painting, music, and all creative pursuits.
