Love Is an Art
may resemble the hushed, spectral
Liberman
in its form and sound, but this 2020 album from
Vanessa Carlton
isn't a rehash of its 2015 predecessor.
Carlton
lifts the slight air of melancholy that hung over
yet retains much of its atmospheric murk, emphasizing gently shifting moods as much as melody. Still, the title reveals her intentions here. She is focusing squarely on matters of the heart, writing about love both on a personal scale and in a larger dimension. Her songs are insinuating, not grabbing, slowly revealing their contours through the delicately interlocked keyboards. It may take time for the songs to reveal themselves, but many build to a cathartic crescendo, like the cascade of volume that closes "Future Pain" or the pulse that pushes "The Only Way to Love" to its conclusion. When combined with
's generally hopeful outlook, these insistent dynamics help make
a complementary companion to
: underneath its austere surface, there lays a warm, beating heart. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine