While poking around at some YouTube videos the other day I chanced upon Charlotte Church. Had never heard of her previously – I’m guessing frequent commenter Jana knows all about her! – but I guess she’s a big deal across the pond. I’ve fallen in love in her voice and the versatility she shows in using it effectively across opera and popular music is beyond amazing. While you can bet I’ll be doing a deep dive into her catalog in the coming days, here are a few examples of just how good this young lady is:
I absolutely love We Were Young.
The Last Rose Of Summer is another good one as well.
Apparently, lots of people like Honestly.
Back To Scratch sounds like Charlotte channeling Olivia Newton-John. Love love love the raccoon eye makeup – very sexy!
Unfaithful is just a lovely tune.
Ruby has a really interesting vibe.
Her rendition of Ave Maria is one of the best I’ve ever heard. It’s breathtaking, really…
I really like this tune, it sounds like something Brian Wilson would have done during his unreleased “Sweet Insanity” period.
Finally, and given the season, her rendition of O Holy Night is worth a mention.
Charlotte was a kid phenom several years ago…known for singing in performances barefooted. She may have been 12 or so when she became famous…kind of like the little girl, Jackie Evanko from American Idol. She has an amazing voice for sure. One of my favorite vocal groups is still Celtic Woman and their Christmas cd. I have seen them in person several times and they are just magical…I love lyric soprano voices like theirs, Enya and Enya’s sister in Clanaad.
Comment by Jana — December 14, 2011 @ 4:50 am
I’m sure Rob will agree with you on that, he’s a big Celtic Woman fan.
Comment by The Great Whire Shank — December 14, 2011 @ 12:08 pm
I was able to see Celtic Woman twice with my dad…he had such a crush on the fiddle player and knew their names. One concert, I got backstage tickets for a meet and greet for us…he loved that. They signed a photo for him and he put it in a frame in his room. What a sweet memory.
Comment by Jana — December 14, 2011 @ 1:56 pm
Listened to “Cold California” for about thirty times today and can’t get enough of it. What’s not to love? Charlotte’s sweet voice and great lyrical wordplay in front of a sparse arrangement featuring only two guitars (love the grungy-sounding one), an unobtrusive bass line, and simple drums (hi-hat, snare, little cymbal action). Rock at its simplest.
I mentioned the song’s similarity to Brian Wilson’s “Sweet Insanity” period, but I’m wrong – I think it’s far closer to Brian’s “Love You” period with songs like this…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHVCfj6WHXw
…and this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_THKcG20aM
Comment by The Great White Shank — December 14, 2011 @ 9:24 pm