Mary Chapin Carpenter was one of country music’s biggest success stories of the 1990s, earning five Grammy Awards and multiple platinum albums. Her literate songwriting, dry wit and feminist perspective made her a welcome antidote to the hat acts of the era.
Time Sex Love, her first collection of new material in five years, is her most ambitious record to date in terms of quantity (its fifteen songs clock in at 73 minutes). Ultimately, the album suffers from a sameness in tempo on a majority of songs as Carpenter and her band seem kept under wraps, plodding along like a car that can’t make it past third gear.
“King Of Love”, a ballad about romantic domination and possession, becomes a nearly unlistenable dirge, sinking in introspection and restraint. “What Was It Like” suffers from the same problem, though to a lesser degree. On past hits such as “I Feel Lucky” and “Shut Up And Kiss Me”, Carpenter presented a feisty spirit and playful sexiness that’s missing on the new CD.
Time Sex Love is not without its positives. Carpenter adds strings and sitar to broaden the instrumental mix. “Maybe World” matches vocal stylings with a Beatlesque guitar to good effect. Her singing on “Someone Else’s Prayer” shows off her talent in the lower vocal register. “Simple Life” is a successful takeoff on the back-to-basics movement.
Carpenter is known for changing her arrangements of songs in live performance. One can only hope Time Sex Love will gain an energy in concert that the studio version lacks.
