CHANGES – CD Review

By John Ephland, DOWNBEAT  **** (4 Stars)

July 2012

Carmen Lundy
Changes
AFP 13712
**** (4 Stars)

There’s a spot at the end of “Dance The Dance” where Carmen Lundy
and her band just can’t seem to let go. It’s the best part of that song, and the
best example of what is offered when everything comes together on Changes.
With music (including string and horn arrangements) and lyrics by
Lundy across eight originals with a novel cover of “A Nightingale Sang
In Berkeley Square,” the tunes reflect a mix of hope, longing and regret.
Still, there’s an upbeat quality to it all.

Indeed, even a song like “Sleeping Alone” is performed with a kick,
a bounce that might make you wonder what she means when she sings,
“There’s no love in my life, and I can’t, I can’t get used to sleeping
alone.” Repeating the simple phrase “I can’t,” Lundy emphasizes the
words “sleeping alone” to point to her being alone, lonely, getting to the
real heart of the matter of that familiar, threadbare existence. Elsewhere,
the love songs are more clearly about the sunshine and not the clouds,
more fully integrated. But with music like this, it’s the sound of Lundy’s
hearty, full-bodied voice that carries the day.

There’s also some material here that’s more about life itself, apart
from relationships, with her “Love Thy Neighbor.” But the confounding
world of love returns with “Too Late For Love.” The album ends on
a more hopeful note with “Where Love Surrounds Us,” which features
her in duet with guest guitarist Oscar Castro-Neves. —John Ephland