Octo_Russ

Beth Nielsen Chapman [Sand And Water]

This is such a profound album, it was composed during the loss of Chapman's Husband to cancer, songs of loss, and yet... deep down they're songs of gain, she writes on the back of the booklet 'every aspect of my life has deepened in meaning, that has been a gift in the midst of this loss', she certainly has a way of expressing emotion through the perfect lyric, they are full of pathos and eternity, i've tried a couple of her other albums, but i've found them weak in comparison, i first encountered her on a compilation album, and so i had to explore the disc that that song came from, another little gem in my disc library. 

Beth Nielsen Chapman is American, she is now 55, i didn't think she was that old, she recorded this album in 1997, the front booklet cover is very clever, a picture of Chapman under water, holding a bunch of roses, nicely far from the usual [photo by Howard Schatz], the reflection on the surface is great too, a pointed nose and two pairs of lips!. 

There are several songs that touched me on this listen, especially tracks 1, 4 , 6 & 10, i guess i connected with the slower more inward looking songs, track 6 ' Seven Shades Of Blue' is a real gem, it rises far above even the other very excellent songs on the album, it's an acoustic number, Chapman plays acoustic guitar, and she's real good with a fairly complex picking arrangement, no mere strumming here, the song is heightened by opening with a couple of long verses before the chorus [verse, verse, chorus... instead of the usual verse, chorus, verse, etc], i like the second half of the first verse, 

In the hollow of your shoulder

There's a tidepool of my tears

Where the waves came crashing over

And the shoreline disappears

very meaningful, using the analogy of the sea and the beach, Michael McDonald sings backing vocal in the chorus, there's also a lovely hum of background organ throughout the song, the whole thing seeps of nostalgia and almost regret, it's really beautiful.

Here's Beth Nielsen Chapman singing 'Seven Shades Of Blue' on YouTube.