The Spice Girls gave it a name: "Girl Power." It's been four or five years now since females successfully crashed the party. Music is no longer a male-dominated scene. Female singer/songwriters have become more and more plentiful in recent years. Amy Correia is another to add to the growing list. With an earthy, raspy voice reminiscent of Joan Osborne and Patty Griffin as well as simple guitar strummings like Jewel (only better), Correia has a shot at making her mark in music.
Correia, a Mass-achusetts native who left for New York City when she was 17, learned to play the guitar while resting in bed thanks to two herniated spinal discs. Her debut album, "Carnival Love," features Correia's songwriting talents as well as her guitar, banjo, ukelele and mandolin-playing skills, not to mention her versatile voice. While she never quite reaches brilliant musical prowess in any of these areas, her offerings in each are smooth, nice and pleasing to the ears.
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Correia definitely has her own style. It's a great voice; it fits well with folk, blues, acoustic rock, and if she adds a twang, she's got the country-western thing going on. You'll find yourself paying less attention to what she says than to how she says it.
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What she says is easily overlooked. Correia's lyrics are nothing extraordinary, but her simple imagery is honest and believable. Most of the album's ditties bulge with images like "a hand unseen poured down the sun" and "the clock plots time like a beggar countin' change." Listening to Correia is rather refreshing - rarely do we hear songs like "The Bike," which starts with a "red and rusted bicycle," and moves on to discuss the previous owner's life, his burial and his prior experience with the bike - all of these themes merge together with a singable chorus.
Sometimes Correia's simplicity and happy-go-lucky style are misleading. She frequently slips in easy-to-miss gems of insight and wonderfully lucid moments. She claims: "Sweet blindness makes love to me, approves of my disguise." She dons this disguise frequently as her voice sometimes seems most carefree when her words are most desolate.
Each clocking in at around three and a half minutes, the thirteen songs on "Carnival Love" blend together well and possess real individuality. There are several catchy, radio-friendly songs that probably will be released as singles, such as "Life is Beautiful," and "Carnival." These two songs stand out as the best-produced on the album, with added musical embellishment and vocal harmonizing. The starkness and simplicity of other songs work well with Correia's voice and provide a nice balance of style. There is a good variety in subject matter as well. Most songs deal with things other than love, discussing subjects such as Chinatown, a carnival, loss of childhood, a "daydream car" and the beauty of life. The five or six love songs on the album are not as derivative as most love songs get, but are by no means exceptionally original.
About her album, Correia says, "You hope people will not mock you for your efforts, but realize if they do you can probably hone in on their weaknesses and retaliate one day when they least expect it." Correia's effort is definitely not to be mocked. But while she is above mediocrity, she is not too far from it. It will be interesting to see what else she offers in the future, but it's not worth tingling in anticipation.
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