Brandi Carlile- By the Way, I Forgive You

As I sit down to write this, the world has gone into hibernation. Spring has come in the east of Germany but the Corona Virus has us all in lockdown, the hoards are out there creaming the shelves of bog roll but I am tucked up inside with a brew and a whole host of great Albums. Who knows when this will blow over, all I do know is this is a great chance for the world to get back in touch with itself, figure out what really matters and for people to go and do what they love doing for a bit. Todays subject is the highly acclaimed, 3 Grammy winning ‘By the Way, I Forgive you’ by Brandi Carlile.

This record has innocence in the sound, earthy instrumentation, mostly Americana Folk inspired arrangements with the occasional venture into a more rocky sound. Beautiful acoustic guitars, behind lush vocal tapestries, set back warm bass tones while center stage, Brandi’s vocal shines through. She delivers a spellbinding performance on this record, there is honesty in her lyrics and delivery, on a first listen through you may think this is just another folk Americana record, all be it a good one, however it is her performance that is the centerpiece and it will keep you coming back for more.

I get the sense this was a record written from experience and from the heart, a diary of life’s hardships, loneliness, victories and joy through the lens of Brandi’s artistry. She has a way of writing that is instantly relatable as one human to another and yet sums up complexed relationships between her daughter, mother and father and other shady and not so shady characters she has met over her life. The analytical side of my brain all but fades away when listening, I forget its imperfections and am left with the feeling I have just been told a very real story of someone else’s life, first hand.

With that said, I do think the album has been mixed and mastered a touch on the ‘hot’ side, there are moments where guitars can poke out a little harshly, vocals also can sting a little, the result of a passionate delivery that hasn’t quite been tamed by the engineering. There is a passage towards the end of ‘Hold out Your Hand’ that positively rips out of the speakers, you can hear the compression really squashing the mix, trying to fit that many instruments and voices through the master chain. I believe this is done for effect and whilst compressed to smithereens, it certainly adds to the energy of the outro. With these slight shortcomings of the mix noted, they are also very quickly forgotten, as soon as you latch on to a lyrical idea or get swept into a thundering chorus, you will quickly forget any moments that might have tweaked you ear earlier.

‘By the Way’ is a joy of a record, honest, resolute and strong. Don’t expect any audio wizardry here, only exceptionally well-crafted songs put to tape in an un-fussy way. Some highlights for me include ‘The Joke’, ‘Hold out Your Hand’, ‘Whatever you do’, ‘Sugertooth’ and my personal favorite ‘Most of All’. Brandi displays poise and wisdom in the lyrical content and her musical delivery that only comes from many years honing an art form; the only drawback is that you’ll be left wanting more.