It's certainly fair to say that the life of Charlotte Maria Church has been a bit of a rollercoaster, both personally and professionally. We’ll leave the private life to one side here and focus on the music of Ms Church 3.0.
The title is a clear indication of what she wanted to do with this, her second non-classical album, literally taking her away from the polished pop of 2005’s “Tissues and Issues” to a more minimal acoustic sound. No longer a “Crazy Chick” but perhaps more of a hippy chick?
This was only the second time she had performed any of these songs in public, having played a warm-up gig in a small pub just the night before, but this was in front of some of the big cheeses of the music industry and press, so no pressure then?
Opening with an a cappella operatic chant, you could be confused in thinking she really has gone back to her ‘Voice of an Angel’ days (or maybe the fact the Pope was in town threw her slightly), but soon the band kick in and launch into the first song, “Logical World”
Having never heard her sing live, I was actually quite impressed at just how strong her voice is. All that vocal training from such a young age really has paid off. The new material is strong too, much of which was co-written by guitarist Jonathan Powell, who not only happens to be the new man in her life, but also has his own solo material coming soon. It is certainly a good year for him.
Although genuinely nervous throughout the performance, the chat show Charlotte is also still apparent with a few one-liners thrown in along the way. “You think I’d be used to this after 12 years” she said before performing “Honesty” a track she said she wrote “just for myself”. Now that is honest.
Highlights of the gig were “Snow”, a beautiful ballad again co-written by Jonathan, the album’s title track and first single “Back To Scratch” and “The Story Of Us” which was written “about my mum and what a pain in the arse she is”. In fact mum Maria was sat only a few feet away and was wiping away the tears by the end of the song.
It’s difficult to know how this album will be received, there’s lot of competition out there from artists of a similar style like Ellie Goulding and Florence who have come along during what was essentially Charlotte’s 5 year maternity leave, but from the evidence here, it is a strong album and when you think she is still only 24, there is still so much potential for her and going “Back To Scratch” might just be what she needed to do.
“Back To Scratch” the single is out now and the album is released October 25th.
Set list
Logical World
Unraveling
The Story Of Us
Snow
Honesty
Back To Scratch
Don’t Think About It
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