‘Reminisce’ is Charlotte’s debut EP and what an absolutely lovely thing it is. A set of songs that show the power of a song that is well written, sung and played.
She describes what she does as country-pop. I might have a level of disagreement with that because there’s a lot more to her songs than that. That’s the summary, let’s dive in.
The title track ‘Reminisce’ is country with a pop edge, or indeed pop with a country edge (you takes yer choice) but there is also a delightful sprinkling of bedroom-pop that dusts the whole song in a sparkling shimmering glow. It’s fun musically, musically it leaves you grinning and somewhat breathless from dancing wildly around the room. But there’s a bittersweet feel to the words as Charlotte tells the story of a break up at the age of 16. And those words are from the heart, there is a truth in them. That contrast between the music and the words is the key here, it makes this fabulous.
‘Wanna Make You Mine’ takes a very much country feel, but this is electric country. And let me tell you this song would be lovely if it did that all the way through, truly lovely. The icing on the cake is that after an atmospheric guitar break it evolves into being country rock. Mark my words this isn’t loud or heavy it’s just a rock feel; that reminds me of Fleetwood Mac in some ways.
The story of a long distance relationship ‘In My Dreams’ marks a return to that bedroom pop feel. Voice, acoustic guitar provide that ‘I’m singing in my bedroom feel’. But as I’ve come to expect there is always something special and in this case it’s an acoustic solo that is absolutely stunning.
‘Promise’ has a richer full band feel. It’s country rock – Charlotte in full voice, full on electric guitar. The passion in this song is incredible. This is one you just have to hear.
Before writing this review I thought long and hard about how soon in the review I might mention that Charlotte’s style comes from country because country can have, how do I put this, a certain set of assumptions about what that means musically. And Charlotte’s songs don’t fit into that set of assumptions; they are a wonderful mixture of things with a country feel that runs through them. It’s what makes these songs hang together musically.
The other thing that makes the songs work together is that Charlotte’s words are from the heart and have the ring of real life, of real experiences.
And of course we can’t not mention the wonderful playing and Charlotte’s voice which is fantastic. You can hear she just loves to sing.
I didn’t think I’d like these songs – even music reviewers make assumptions about things – but I’ve been won over; I ended up loving them. That’s the power of a song that is well written, sung and played. This is lovely.
The info
Growing up Wakefield, West Yorkshire, Charlotte Beatrice began her passion for music at the age of 9 where she performed in musical theatre productions at Amateur Dramatics Societies. She is now an accomplished professional singer and songwriter.. The EP contains songs she has written representing different aspects of her own life, added with her own country pop flair. Now studying at Leeds Conservatoire, Charlotte is looking forward to further releases as well as getting back to gigging after a long time away!
Charlotte’s philosophy is: Sometimes in life all you need in life is to take a deep breath… and just sing
