Today is the official release date of Sara Bareilles' sophomore album Kaleidoscope Heart via Epic Records. Recently, I had the outstanding opportunity to review the album in its entirety on a promotional basis so that I could shout out to the world whether its residents should consider purchasing this CD or not. Well, if you are reading this review and wondering whether or not to purchase this eclectic album - Go. Buy it. Now. Literally. Jump onboard the "Kaleidoscope Train" and spread the word. This album will be huge. Sophomore jinx be damned.
The 13-track disc is delivered to its intendees in a colorful cardboard package complete with an equally-vibrant lyric booklet. The tunes are upbeat, catchy, rambunctious, and pregnant with infectious and thought-provoking melodies. Here is an overview of each song with the lyrics that caught my attention. The music, well, you will have to hear it for yourself as words cannot describe their genius composition. If I were to best put it into words, I might use the following: a cross between the music of Sarah McLachlan, Colbie Caillat, Brandi Carlile and the feeling of an old black-and-white silent movie starring Charlie Chapman.
1. Kaleidoscope Heart
"I have hope. Inside is not a heart but a kaleidoscope."
2. Uncharted
"I'm already out of foolproof ideas so don't ask me how to get started. It's all uncharted. Each day, I'm counting up the minutes 'til I get alone cause I can't stay in the middle of it all. It's nobody's fault, but I'm so low. Never knew how much I didn't know. Oh, everything is uncharted."
3. Gonna Get Over You
"And I'm not the girl that I intend to be. But I dare you darlin', just you wait and see. But this time not for you, but just for me."
4. Hold My Heart
"I'm not the kind to try to tell you lies, but the truth is you've been hiding from it, too. I see the end sneaking in behind your eyes saying things no words could ever do. Does anybody know how to hold my heart? How to hold my heart.."
5. King of Anything
"You sound so innocent. All full of good intent. Swear you know best. But you expect me to jump up onboard with you and ride off into your delusional sunset. I'm not the one who's lost with no direction. Oh, but you'll never see. You're so busy making masks with my name on it in all caps. You've got the talking down, just not the listening."
6. Say You're Sorry
"Show will be over soon. It's not the curtain closing causing us to call it a day. I want to walk away, too, but I want you to say you are sorry."
7. The Light
"Let the world come rush in, come down hard, come crushing. All I need is right here beside me. I'm not enough I swear it, but take my love and wear it over your shoulders."
8. Basket Case
"I don't say much and it'll stay that way. You got a steel train touch and I'm just a track you lay. So I'll stay right here underneath you. I'm just a basketcase and that's what we do."
9. Let the Rain
"If my hands could hold them you'd see. I'd take all these secrets in me and I'd move and mold them to be something I'd set free."
10. Machine Gun
"Locked and loaded you're practically floating away now. In your fortress you feel like you're more or less safe now, but let me say, I didn't mean harm, oh, but baby, you'd be charming if you'd come undone."
11. Not Alone
"If you have to tell me lies, I don't care. Just give me some good back. I don't want to be alone. Sky don't let the sun go."
12. Breathe Again
"All those words came undone and now I'm not the only one facing the ghosts that decide if the fire inside still burns. All I have, all I need. He's the air I'd kill to breathe."
13. Bluebird
"This pair of wings worn and rusted from too many years by my side. They can carry me, swear to be sturdy and strong, but see, turning them on still means goodbye."
All songs written by Sara Bareilles.
Sara's tour will be stopping over in Portland, OR on September 25, 2010. Purchase your tickets here: Roseland Theater. She will be swinging back to the Pacific Northwest just in time for Thanksgiving when she plays the Knitting Factory Concert House in Spokane, WA on November 20, 2010.
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