Chastity Brown – ‘Sing to the Walls’ review

Chastity Brown’s 2017 LP ‘Silhouette of Sirens’ arriving a decade into the singer-songwriter’s career, was her most heralded effort, and saw the singer-songwriter receive considerable attention for her melding of folk and R&B styles. Her new album ‘Sing To The Walls‘ is a long time — 5 years — in coming, but it’s worth the wait. While there’s still some traces of folk in Brown’s mix of genres here, she’s moved even further into soul and R&B territory, and it works well for her. Her background in the folk/singer-songwriter world makes her very attentive to the precise details and nuances of her lyrics, which are sharp and precise throughout the record. Though she can occasionally be a little more direct than is necessary (as in ‘Golden’), she is skilled enough to let the stories speak for themselves rather than directly push a point or try to teach a lesson.

On ‘Sing To The Walls’ we really get a  taste of what Brown can do as a vocalist. She spreads her wings and flies, giving her lyrics the full-on soul diva treatment. I’ve heard it observed that folk and country have a different kind of vocals from blues and rock, and Brown may be more suited to the latter. She has a deep, powerful instrument, one that can project itself against the more powerful drums and heavier bass and guitars in R&B.

As a writer, Brown has the intelligence to coopt and rework old tropes and images for her own uses, which can be subversive. ‘Back Seat’ takes the classic vision of a car cruising down a highway as a metaphor for freedom, and it hammers this point home: “We were so free.” But the point that Brown is making here is one about liberation, not just about some weak concept of teens feeling the wind in her. It’s a deeper, more powerful idea. 

Conversely, a real strength of this record is that it doesn’t always feel a need to convey an idea, and instead realizes the power of relating an experience. Songs work better the more concrete they are, and sometimes a song, like ‘Loving the Questions’ really works because it conveys “what it’s like” rather than trying tell us how it is. The merging of R&B and folk traditions on this album really meets its apex in ‘Boston’ which is both a love song and a story song.

Sonically, the range of the music here is varied, sometimes more acoustic, sometimes more electric, even electronic. The music shifts between “Curiosity” and “Golden” from a gentle, piano-based ballad to an ultramodern, keys, electronic composition. The songs suit the compositions, and the variety keeps everything fresh and engaging.

At its strongest points ‘Sing To The Walls’ invites us into Chastity Brown’s world to relate to the artist and see our own humanity reflected in her art. Her storytelling is sharp, detailed, and precise, and she continues to make strides in using her composition to enhance the overall effect of her songs.

Track list: 1.Wonderment 2. Back Seat 3. Loving the Questions 4. Boston 5. Curiosity 6. Golden 7. Sing to the Walls 8. Like the Sun 9. Hope 10. Gertrude Record Label: Red House Records Release Date: Friday June 17th Buy ‘Sing to the Walls’ now

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