ALBUM REVIEW: Beth Nielsen Chapman Collects Songs of Sanity for ‘CrazyTown’
Henry Carrigan
Posted On September 22, 2022
Beth Nielsen Chapman’s new album, CrazyTown, opens with a joyous sing-along, “All Around the World,” a soaring affirmation of the goodness of human nature and the possibilities of community in a world sorely divided by strife. It’s one of those songs whose rhythms and lyrics echo in our hearts and souls long after the final note fades. The song opens with a single guitar down strum that propels Chapman’s vocals into the stratosphere, with help from the freewheeling background vocals of Crystal Taliefero, Bekka Bramlett, Nickie Conley, and Jason Eskridge. This opening track lifts us up, transporting us into the soul of Chapman’s brilliant songwriting.
The poignant waltz “With Time” unfolds luxuriantly, conveying the preciousness of time and encouraging us to embrace the dance of our present moment: “It’s beautiful, it’s magical / Whatever goes with time.” Chapman weaves in sonic echoes of Carole King’s “Tapestry” and Stephen Sondheim’s “Send in the Clowns.”
The toe-tapping, hand-clapping, pop-inflected “Dancin’ With the Past” belies the defiance and refusal at the center of the song; the singer won’t look back since it’s just “dancin’ with the past.” Troy Lancaster’s snaking lead guitar and Russ Pahl’s wailing steel elevate Chapman’s bright and propulsive vocals and Scott Mulvahill’s and Maureen Murphy’s background vocals.
The shuffling, syncopated “Put a Woman in Charge” urges exactly what the title suggests: “Here we are standing on the brink of disaster / Enough is enough is enough is enough / I know the answer / Put a woman in charge.” The echoing background vocals via an ensemble that features Keb’ Mo’, the song’s writer, add a forceful dimension to the song.
The funky “Hey Girl (We Can Deal with It)” embraces the power of women’s voices to overcome the world’s attempts to silence them and to tell their own stories — “I’ll be my own storyteller / Live my life in a cappella.” The somber “The Edge” ripples with shimmering circles of sound; it’s an atmospheric journey to the borders of our souls, where hurt and healing intersect.
The album closes with the softly circling “Walk You to Heaven,” a hopeful affirmation of a time and space beyond our current reality: “We will all meet again where the stars go / When they stumble like jewels from the sky.”
We live these days in a “crazy town” where there is more divisiveness and fear and hate than unity and love, so thank goodness that Beth Nielsen Chapman has given us this album. CrazyTown admits to our faults and limitations, but Chapman quickly transcends these and provides glorious songs of celebration and affirmation.
Beth Nielsen Chapman’s CrazyTown is out Sept. 23 via Cooking Vinyl.
