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Let It Rain
10/23/2002 10:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Rob O'Connor
As she ages her spirit deepens. Tracy Chapman has only made six studio albums in 14 years. It is, perhaps, because she carries the weight of existence on her shoulders at all times. A deep solemnity haunts her work. Her lyrics, though simple, feel as if each word has been debated until they have won the right to be sung and printed on the page. Though she writes about herself, she also writes with an eye towards humanity, as if she were attempting to write that song that the whole world could sing--at weddings, at funerals, at 4-H club meetings, and church socials. With co-producer John Parish (PJ Harvey), Chapman uses her voice to great effect, emphasizing its warm cracks and vibrato, all the while surrounding it with touches of stand-up bass, pedal steel and sparse guitar lines that paint in dramatic sepia-tones. Rarely has endurance sounded so relaxing and inviting. Perhaps she and Leonard Cohen could perform the Bible.
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