"I dig my heels into the dirt cause this one's gonna hurt," Charlotte Martin cries on the title track of her second album, "On Your Shore."
Somehow Martin has the insight to know exactly how her listener is going to feel while listening to her music. Despite a promising opening piano melody, the album turns out to be nothing more than a collection of shoddy breakup songs.
Short memories will be quick to point to Sarah McLachlan or Tori Amos as the immediate influences of Charlotte Martin. Those with greater breadth will recall that Joni Mitchell has been crying her eyes out since the '60s.
The difference between Mitchell and McLachlan is that Mitchell drew her own inspiration. The difference between McLachlan and Martin is that McLachlan respected the music of Mitchell. It's hard to believe Martin has even given these artists a listen; it seems unlikely that she would put out "On Your Shore" and call it an original.
Martin is a selfless, self-empowered girl. She seeks meaning in her writing, but it's impossible to take her seriously when the only lyrics that seem to mean anything are in her cover of The Rolling Stones' "Wild Horses." At least she gives credit where it's due in the liner notes.
The last song on the album turns away from the depressing and somber tone of all the rest. "Beautiful Life" is a celebratory song that's actually a pleasant listen that comes too late; most will already have pressed the stop button.
The one good thing that can be said about the album is that the production is clean and all the songs sound crisp and clear. At least someone in the studio was doing his job.
A less than heartwarming feature of the album is the FBI anti-piracy warning that is received when the CD is played on a computer. RCA doesn't exactly have to worry about Net-wide distribution of "On Your Shore."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
