Carolyn Edwards by Carolyn Edwards

large image coverprintable pdf cover

view larger image

0 faves

fave it

Piano | Folk Rock

11 tracks | 37 minutes

Released Nov 2005
on True Classical

Click for a 30-second preview. All tracks are 192kbps high fidelity sound quality. Protected WMA $0.77 or unprotected MP3 $0.88.

listen album 30sec. shuffle buy CD review album promote album

MP3GIFT

sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:26 Lunacy lyrics BUY MP3 02:26 Lunacy lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:26 Lunacy

sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:34 Monica lyrics BUY MP3 03:34 Monica lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:34 Monica

sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:44 Solace lyrics BUY MP3 03:44 Solace lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:44 Solace

sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:40 Lazy lyrics BUY MP3 03:40 Lazy lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:40 Lazy

sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:50 Factory Moon lyrics BUY MP3 02:50 Factory Moon lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:50 Factory Moon

sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 04:04 Wrestling Match lyrics BUY MP3 04:04 Wrestling Match lyrics "GIFT MP3" 04:04 Wrestling Match

sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:53 Shrink lyrics BUY MP3 02:53 Shrink lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:53 Shrink

sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 04:38 Secret Monster lyrics BUY MP3 04:38 Secret Monster lyrics "GIFT MP3" 04:38 Secret Monster

sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:27 The Argument lyrics BUY MP3 03:27 The Argument lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:27 The Argument

sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:46 Leave lyrics BUY MP3 02:46 Leave lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:46 Leave

sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:15 Beauty Wasted lyrics BUY MP3 03:15 Beauty Wasted lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:15 Beauty Wasted

$7.77 $8.88 $8.88

Darkly humorous, sad yet witty piano-based pop.

Editorial review

With past group associations that include the Negro Problem and 3D Picnic, singer/songwriter/keyboardist Carolyn Edwards is a member in good standing of the school of nouveau L.A. art pop, a movement that has as its local gods Brian Wilson and Jimmy Webb (with Burt Bacharach as patron saint). On her self-titled debut solo album, Edwards turns in a set of sophisticated, keyboard-based tunes that draw upon elements of everything from sunshine pop ("Shrink," the instrumental bed of which could be a track for a song by the Association) to soundtracks for Western movies ("Monica," "Lazy"). She writes long-lined melodies to support her run-along, sometimes unrhymed lyrics, which wryly comment on romantic matters, and sings those words in an attractive and precise if slightly uninvolved voice that suggests what the Jimmy Webb songbook would sound like as performed by Liz Phair. This becalmed manner is all the more striking in contrast to some of the more emotionally troubled songs, such as "The Argument," which begins with the observation, "He slammed his fist down on the dashboard/And bled all over my car," and goes on from there. "My voice rose to a scream," Edwards sings evenly. "It was not a beautiful experience for me." "Wrestling Match," despite the title, describes something closer to a beautiful interpersonal experience, but the singer still doesn't seem to be stirred by the memory of it. Rather, the whole point is that these feelings and memories are being transformed into pop artifacts to be examined from a remote perspective, as if they'd been experienced by someone else. Edwards seems to take seriously Wordsworth's dictum that "All good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes it origin from emotion recollected in tranquility." And when a 2006 album sounds like it could have been made in 1967, such emotional distance only seems appropriate. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

Bio / Background

Carolyn Edwards was one of the founders of the popular post-punk L.A. band, 3D Picnic. After 3D Picnic disbanded, she fronted (playing guitar and singing) the alternative pop quartet Spindle, who played locally to rave reviews. She has also played keyboards for Silver Lake pop heroes The Negro Problem. (See discography page for details.)

Carolyn now performs as a singer/songwriter/pianist, whose darkly-humorous, piano-based songs range in subjects as diverse as Monica Lewinsky, romantic disappointment, the Prozac generation and werewolves. Her upcoming self-titled CD will be released (web-only) Nov. 6, 2005, on True Classical CDs (trueclassicalcds.com). The CD, which Carolyn co-produced with Steve Stanley of The Now People, features performances from some of L.A.'s finest musicians: Nick Walusko, Nelson Bragg and Probyn Gregory (from the Wondermints, Brian Wilson's band), Heather Lockie from Listing Ship/WACO/The Eels, Paul Lacques from I See Hawks In L.A.