Shawn Arnold
PAINTING
PAINTING_118_ARTICLE
Liberman is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Vanessa Carlton, released
in the US on October 23, 2015 and in the UK and Europe on April 29, through Dine Alone
Records.It is the follow-up to Carlton's 2011 album Rabbits on the Run and marks her first
release since signing with Dine Alone Records.The title of the album comes from an oil
painting made by Carlton's late grandfather, whose given surname was Liberman.==
Background and writing ==
Following the 2011 release Rabbits on the Run, Carlton took time off to get married, start a
family, and write another album.She told CBS News that these changes in her life are
reflected in Liberman's songs, and that she "wanted the whole album to feel like an escape
type of album, where you put it on and you feel like you're in this dreamy state."To avoid
preconceived notions, demos recorded were sent to Dine Alone Records without Carlton's
name attached.Label president Joel Carriere says of hearing the demos: The songs were
amazing, it was atmospheric, it kind of fit into what we're all into ... and we never would
have guessed it was Vanessa Carlton because her voice has developed so much since her
pop songs 14 years ago and the songwriting had obviously changed.We were, like: "Yeah,
we want to do this.But what is it we're doing?"== Promotion ==
In support of the album, Carlton embarked on the "Liberman" tour throughout portions of
the United States and Canada in the fall of 2015 and winter of 2016.Special guest on the tour
was Joshua Hyslop.The tour continued in the UK and Europe in the spring of 2016.==
Singles ==
The first single, "Operator", was released for digital download on September 25, 2015.A
music video for the single, directed by Daniel Henry, was released on October 13,
2015.According to Carlton, the video shows the classic tale of children running away
reversed, so instead the parents are running away.The second single, "House of Seven
Swords", was released for digital download.Since Liberman was already released, it was not
released separately, like "Operator", but it was made a single on November 18, 2015.Daniel
Henry also directed a music video for "House of Seven Swords" which was released the
same day as the single and shows Carlton playing piano and singing the song at home in
Nashville.The Wall Street Journal writes of the video:she takes her baby daughter out into
the yard, making "House of Seven Swords" seem like sage advice from mother to child.In a
way, Carlton says, it is."At the same time, the song is absolutely a message to myself, too,
probably," she says.Henry shot the footage they used in the video in about an hour while
making a different clip with Carlton, and they fit the images to the song."It was all very
organic," she says.Steve Osborne's remix of "Nothing Where Something Used To Be" was
released worldwide as the third single off Liberman on April 8, 2016.== Other songs ==
Other songs from Liberman were released with music and lyric videos for promotional
purposes."Young Heart", a song that does not appear on the album, was released as a "pre-
single" with an "Official Dream Video" on April 20, 2015, as a way to release information
that Carlton had signed with Dine Alone Records.A music video for "Blue Pool" was released
on August 3, 2015, to promote the Blue Pool EP.A lyric video was released for "Willows" on
August 27, 2015, as a way to reveal the album artwork, track listing, and release date.On
November 17, 2015, The Wall Street Journal premiered the music video for "House of Seven
Swords".== Critical reception ==
Liberman received mostly positive reviews from music critics.At Metacritic, which assigns a
normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average
score of 77 out of 100, which indicates "generally favorable reviews" based on 7
reviews.Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic rated the album four out of five stars, stating:
"Carlton is still avoiding any of the grand gestures that defined her earliest work but at this
point, this quietly meditative pop feels like a truer reflection of her intentions than 'A
Thousand Miles'."Pitchfork's Matthew Schnipper rated the album 7.8 out of ten, writing:
"Carlton's voice is the key attraction on songs [from Liberman] that register between low-
key pop, rock, and folk."The Boston Globe's Ken Capobianco states: "Carlton's reinvention
finds her a long way from 'A Thousand Miles' – and in a better place, artistically."== Track
listing ==
Adapted from AllMusic and the album's liner notes.
