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Rating: I struggled considerably to find an album that hasn't yet been discussed for my second review. My choice finally fell on the debut album by the talented Californian singer and violinist.
We are in 2003, and before her personal struggles were reflected in her works (she was committed to a mental institution due to her bipolar personality and after various suicide attempts), Emilie released this curious work. Far from the hallucinatory sounds of "Opheliac," this work is characterized by its magical and ethereal sound, highlighted by her very fairy-tale-like voice, occasionally enriched by her faithful violin. It's difficult to find a genre that can classify her music: classical music, influenced by Celtic music, mixes into a unique pop.
Love is the dominant theme of the album, but not the predictable love from a lover to his lady: it's from the woman's perspective that Emilie operates, and she tells of unhappy and badly ended loves, or the subordinate relationship towards the man: "Ever" and "Chambermaid" are vivid examples. In harmony with the fairy-tale atmosphere of the album, fairy tales ("Rapunzel") and Shakespeare ("Juliet") are also mentioned; and songs where love is experienced with childlike happiness as an escape from everything and everyone, as evidenced by "Castle Down" and "How Strange."
Despite the album containing 14 tracks and lasting over an hour, it is rarely boring or difficult to listen to. Pieces like "Second Hand Faith," "If You Feel Better," and "Save You" glide smoothly like water and nothing.
The masterpiece of the album, however, is the opening track "(Prologue): Across The Sky," a piece that encapsulates the entire album within itself, where the magic of the atmosphere and her voice are at their greatest, with a truly beautiful lyric. I want to leave you with a quote from the aforementioned song. I hope I've written a better review than the previous one. Until next time!
See beyond the moment,/ think beyond the day./ Hear the word,/ my voice will not be cast away./ Fatalistic fortune,/ ever near the end,/ love goes on/ but time does not return again. [...] Fear no more the midnight,/ Fear no more the sea./ Close your eyes, regret nothing:/ you're safe with me./ Look into the shadows,/ step into the mist;/ search your land but doubt never/ I still exist.
Tracklist and Lyrics
03 Chambermaid (03:14)
Show your face
Don’t hide
Take off the mask now
Underneath is a deep dark secret
Take me for a ride
Upon your white horse
Take your love
‘Cause I don’t want to keep it
I am out of place
And honey you are out of time
I’d tell your fortune
But the words don’t rhyme
Chorus:
I’m not your chambermaid
You’re not my lord
All the fine games we played
Have left me bored
I never want to see you come around my castle
‘Cause I just can’t afford to love you
I’m not your chambermaid
You’re not my lord
Tell me what I have to do to make you
Understand it’s a lost cause lover
Tell me while you’re at it how it feels to
Hold me close when you’ve been thinking of her
I don’t want to hear you say you love me
You’ve been gone such a long time
Won’t you turn around
Before I have to see this
Face I once adored
Don’t you see
I am out of place
And honey you are out of time
I’d tell your fortune
But the words don’t rhyme
Chorus
You have no hold over me
What’s in your cards now let me see
I hope you’ve got what you wanted
There’s just one thing I know will never be
Chorus
04 Rapunzel (03:57)
In a courtyard
Used to sing as loud as she could
Locked away here
She’s been quiet, lovely and good
But no one listens now
She lost her voice
She had no choice
Chorus:
If you sing loud and clear
Someone passing by will surely hear you
No you can’t be afraid
If you ever want somebody near you
If you sing loud and clear
Someone passing by will surely hear you
No you can’t be afraid
Tore the curtain
Put her hand outside of the frame
Let her hair down
Sat all day and nobody came
But when the sun went down
The stars came out
She heard them shout
Chorus
But when the sun went down
The stars came out
She heard them shout
Chorus
07 Juliet (05:42)
You’re in my stars you know
Don’t need no crystal ball to tell me so
Whispering in the air
Hoping that my words find you somewhere
Even when I close my eyes
I’ll never recreate the time that flies
The consequence is hanging there
The sky will fall but I don’t care
Chorus:
Meet me beneath my balcony and say
No one but you could ever fill my night
Be the sunlight in my every day
Underneath my balcony I’ll say
No one but you could ever fill my night
Be the sunlight in my every day
Your love is haunting me
And all I want is more to set me free
Whispering in the air
Hoping that my words find you somewhere
Do you hear me call your name
I know we will never be the same
The consequence is hanging there
The sky will fall but I don’t care
Chorus
10 Castle Down (03:52)
You can see that I swim
Through the sea of painful
You have watched as I pull
Myself from the floor
And you were there when I
Built my tower like pebbles in the rain
Trying to balance all that I had left
With what I didn't have anymore
CHORUS
But would you tear my castle down
Stone by stone
And let the wind run through my windows
'Til there is nothing left but a battered rose
Would you tear my castle down
Stone by stone
And let the wind run through my windows
'Til there is nothing left but a battered rose
You seem so devoted
Your love is unconditional
You were self-promoted
I never asked you
You were my everything
My apparitional faith
Where are you when I am screaming to my God
What am I coming to
CHORUS
If I had another place to go
Would you break me, is it that you know
I have no choice but to rebuild again
I'm tied so hard I can't remember when
I last walked free upon these feet of mine
But I'll draw the line
There will come a Time
When I am stronger
Your words won't hurt any longer
CHORUS
'Til there is nothing nothing left
'Til there is nothing nothing left
'Til there is nothing left
Will you tear my castle down
Will you tear my castle down
Will you tear my castle down
12 If You Feel Better (04:49)
If you feel better
Telling me I’m cruel
Saying I’m unfeeling
I don’t mind
If it’s necessary
If it helps you out
Crying that I’m heartless
It’s alright
Chorus:
And I’m sorry to cause you so much pain
And I’m sorry to bring you down again
But I’ve reached the end and I won’t fight anymore
I don’t know what you really want from me
But I don’t fit in your reality
How can any man be so blind
But if you feel better
I don’t mind
If you feel safer
Keeping to yourself
Placing trust in no one
I won’t cry
If it calms your conscience
Making me the guilty one
Take my reputation
Ain’t worth much
And it’s alright
Chorus
Won’t make me sorry ’cause I’m cruel
Won’t hurt the feelings I don’t have
Won’t break the heart that isn’t there you’ll find
But if you feel better
Telling me I’m cruel
Saying I’m unfeeling
I don’t mind
I don’t mind
I don’t mind
13 Save You (04:53)
How do I save you from a fate so sweet
As being torn to pieces by a loving hand
How do I save you from a voice so soft
As that which acquiesces to your each demand
How do I look upon the eyes I love
And send them down this path, I know it isn’t right
How do I make you realize my love
That there is more to fear than strangers in the night
Chorus:
How do I save you
How do I set you free
Behind the curtain waits a darker world
If I can’t make you leave
How can I save you from me
I think you’ve had enough experience
To differentiate between a heart of gold
And what you cradle in your gentle arms
Can you not recognize a soul already sold
How do I save you from the things I’ve been
I can’t deny the past, it’s written on my face
How do I save you from the mess you’re in
When I can’t make you leave this torturous embrace
Chorus
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Other reviews
By federico"benny"
Enchant is an excellently crafted and interpreted record, representing a little gem to (re)discover for those seeking music that is not overly demanding, but well-made and pleasant and relaxing to the ears.
Her favorite instrument, the violin, intertwines with a sophisticated electronic touch and Enya-like choirs, creating an intriguing pop-rock with Celtic nuances.
