FEATURE:
Revisiting...
Pearl Charles - Magic Mirror
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RELEASED on 15th January last year…
I did put Pearl Charles in my Spotlight feature berceuse of the sheer and utter brilliance of her album, Magic Mirror. I wanted to put it back in the spotlight. My Second Spin feature is reappraising older albums that are underrated. This feature is more about revisiting albums of the past five years that deserve new light and love. Charles is a magnificent talent. The Los Angeles-born artist released one of 2021’s best albums. I am going to come to a couple of reviews for Magic Mirror, as the album did pick up a lot of positive reviews. Before that, there are a couple of interviews that I wanted to include. The first is from January of last year. The Forty-Five quizzed the amazing Pearl Charles about her musical start, and whether her songs are autobiographical:
“Tell us about how you started making music
I was four years old when my older sister started piano lessons and I begged my parents to let me take lessons too. They told me if I still wanted to when I turned five they would let me, and the rest is history! From there I got really into musical theatre and started voice and guitar lessons as well. Eventually I sort of diverted off the path of musical theatre (I got in trouble for smoking pot at a classmate’s house whose father was a famous country singer/songwriter, but that’s a long story for another time!) and went more into the world of rock’n’roll and playing in bands which I do think is where I was meant to be.
We’re getting some serious ABBA/Fleetwood Mac vibes from your music. What did you listen to growing up?
Though I definitely heard those bands when I was growing up, I didn’t actually really get into Fleetwood Mac or ABBA until I was in my 20s. My introduction to those bands were mostly just as oldies radio hits, so it wasn’t until I got more deeply into discovering and making music myself that I was able to appreciate the level of musicianship and songwriting both those bands exhibit. Growing up I listened to a lot of classic country and singer/songwriters as well as classic rock bands because that’s what my parents exposed me to. The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, John Prine and Hank Williams are some of the quintessential ones that come to mind. I remember the first CD I bought for myself was Eagles Greatest Hits.
Your songs have a really great story to them. Are they autobiographical?
Most of my songs are basically autobiographical or at least start out that way. I used to write a lot more about what happened to me, whereas lately I like to turn inward and look to what’s going on inside of me and how I feel to find inspiration on what to write about. Sometimes I’ve also noticed that life can imitate art. It’s almost as if writing certain songs can call that sort of energy or situation into being or that you’re almost psychically predicting what’s going to happen before it does in song.
You have an incredible home in Joshua Tree, California. Many artists before you have headed to the desert to record because they feel it has a mystical energy. What has your experience been as a creative in an environment like that?
Joshua Tree is such a magical place! My first experiences going out there were with my family when they bought a really unique house (it was built by the first Native American Playboy Bunny) in the area about 13 years ago. That was the place where I first felt really drawn to revisit the classic country music my mom had shown me when I was young, some of the artists I mentioned earlier and others like Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn and Merle Haggard. It was only later that I found out about the significance of Gram Parsons and felt that somehow his spirit had guided me in the right direction. There is just this peaceful, calming feeling out there, you truly feel connected to the earth and surrounded by nature, whether it’s the plants, the animals or the stars. It’s those moments where you feel so small in the world, but in the best possible way, that make Joshua Tree an artistic and spiritual Mecca.
If people are just getting to know you, what song should they listen to first?
That’s a really interesting question! I definitely think listening to my most recent singles and the new album will give you the best insight to where I’m at currently as an artist and what’s closest to my heart at the moment. At the same time, I’d love to be able to be judged on the entire breadth of my work, so I think listening to my entire discography would be a very thorough way to get introduced to my music. Though part of me wants to say to listen from most recent to furthest back because I’m most excited and proud of my newest work, I think listening chronologically would probably also be insightful as to my progression.
And what is one thing you’d like them to know about you?
There’s a lot of celebrity for celebrities sake in today’s world. I’m most passionate about my music and I’d like to be most well known for my musical contributions, so I’d love for people to get to know these songs and I’d be very grateful if they did”.
PHOTO CREDIT: Dana Trippe
I feel like we might get something from Pearl Charles in the way of an E.P. or album. She is such an amazing artist. Although Magic Mirror was played when it was released, one does not hear it exposed and shared as much as they should. It is an album where the deep cuts are all single-worthy. Before getting to some reviews, Inherent Bummer’s interview is really interesting. I have selected some bits from their chat of June 2021:
“INHERENT BUMMER: Tell me about your new album, “Magic Mirror.” It came out in January, right? How’d that go?
PEARL CHARLES: It’s been continually going well, which is really awesome. I've never had this much love from an album and it's very heartening to see the upward momentum. And you've known me for a very long time and seen the path and it's not an easy one…
I've been watching you grow.
To be honest, I feel like it's a better record [than the last one], but that's just naturally how it's going to be when you get better and improve and hone in on your vision.
What was your vision going into this album?
Well, I used my touring band on this one.
You mean they all played on the album?
Yeah, and on my last record we used session guys, who are great, but there's just something to be said about really spending years on the road, playing songs with people and how much that really gels together. And on the last record I had toyed with the idea of doing an ABBA style thing, but we never got around to doing that. So now I feel like on this record, obviously I really went hard into that vibe, but people seem to really be liking it. So I'm excited about it. Like that song, “Only for Tonight.” It fits in, I feel like, and it really sets the stage for the kind of album that it's going to be. It's fun, it's dancy, but it's also... If you listen to the lyrics, they're introspective, and that's the whole theme of the record.
PHOTO CREDIT: Dana Trippe
I know the lyrics are incredibly personal to you, and introspective. And revealing. But it gives off this uplifting sound. Was that a subconscious way to make it easier to release the songs?
That's a really great question. Probably. I'd never really considered it like that. I love the concept of “Magic Mirror” as the title of the album because I feel like there's two sides to everything. It's about duality and we are not ever one thing only. Of course, sometimes we feel very deeply one emotion, but I feel like I wanted to put forward something that's a little bit more complex and something that contains the Yin and the Yang just because I feel like that represents me. And I feel like that represents my life experience and hopefully other people can relate, and I think that they can.
Do you feel like this is your ‘coming of age’ album?
Well, I turned 30 two days ago. And it's really funny because I keep saying this, which is a weird thing to say, because it doesn't really mean anything. But if I turned 30 last year, I don't know that I would have been that stoked about where I was in my life. And that’s just partially because of the pandemic. I don't think anyone was that stoked about where their life was at, in May of last year. You know what I mean? Now? I mean, my record was supposed to come out in May of last year. So there was a lot of waiting and a lot of wondering how it was going to go. And then ultimately I think the timing lined up really, really well for me personally, and for the release into the world, because the album does have positivity contained in it. I didn't want to put that out at a time when it might seem inappropriate. I think the world is always going to need [positive] energy, but I didn't want to distract from all of the pain that was happening in the world and put something out that seemed tone deaf.
When it came out and I heard the title, Magic Mirror, I immediately thought of Snow White, and also Alice in Wonderland. But the way you just expressed the journey sounds so much more transformational. Do you feel like you transformed in the process of making this album?
Yes. I definitely do. And I think life is an ongoing transformation or at least I hope for it to be. And I believe it is, if you choose to continue to grow and you don't become complacent and get stuck, which can happen whether you want it to or not. But I think that, yeah, the transformational journey is such a big part of it for me. And I hope... Here I am at this writing retreat thinking about what I'm going to write about next. And I'm like, "Oh, I don't want to go over the same ground." But at the same time, it's just always going to be part of the story.
Do you feel like you expressed what you wanted to say with Magic Mirror?
Yes. I'm very proud of that record and I really think it shed a lot of light on what I wanted to say, at that time. But I do think that the next record is going to have some different content. What it is yet, I'm not sure. It's actually funny, [Magic Mirror] was supposed to have a song on it that ended up getting cut off. I say “fuck” in it. And it's a bit darker. And taking it off really... We switched it out for “Sweets Sunshine Wine,” which we'd released previously as a single, but we wanted to give it a vinyl release. Changing that one song really changed the whole vibe of the album and made it a much more sun-shiney and happy kind of thing, which I think was the right move for this album. But, lurking below the surface, there's some darker stuff that I might have to bring out next time around”.
It is worth getting to some reviews for Magic Mirror so that we can see what the critics had to say. I have not seen anything even slightly negative about an album that is as magic as its title! This is what The Line of Best Fit said in their review:
“Long have protagonists in films stood weary, questioning choices made or journey’s travelled, in front of a decrepit piece of reflective glass. But that's not quite the plan for Pearl Charles’ new outing.
By inviting you to take a peek into her own Magic Mirror, Charles is offering the chance for you to adopt her tales of traversing the emotional potholes and speed ramps that growing and loving can offer.
On her debut, Sleepless Dreamer, the folk-soaked, pedal steel tinged sound felt like a familiar friend knocking on your door. With Magic Mirror, that friend has returned, with some stories to tell while ready to dazzle with a sparkle.
It’s impossible to not connect the Abba-dots on kick-starter “Only For Tonight”. As the melody delivers on all fronts - ear-worm settling in for the long haul - Charles greets us by looking back upon a one night stand, lamenting she “shouldn’t have played this like a man.” By erupting like a confetti canon coming at you the moment you walk into your house, a feeling sweeps over, ready to carry the party onward.
Notably, there’s now echoes of the sun-drenched California sparkle of Fleetwood Mac, Tom Petty et al - motioning to an express reach upwards for Charles and who she, as an artist, is now. No doubt, the romantic realisations within, particularly of “when I see your face it’ll be the last time I do / it’s easier to live this lie than to tell the truth” (“What I Need”) has also contributed to this new gloss - after all, when the truth feels so poignant, let it shimmer to make it more digestible.
Even on her self-titled debut EP, which dug its hands into the world of blues, there was a wish to reflect, and it feels like the steps made between then and now - the living of life, and figuring out her place in this world - has led to an evolution into a ‘70s radio-rock revival sound, featuring more swaying pedal steel and twanging clavichord en masse - with a delectable delivering of harmonies stacking where prudent.
The lack of reference to any of the issues involved in our ‘new reality’ creates the idea of a dream world, where life can once again by led without the ticking of a doomsday clock - especially following a week of (more) erupting political discourse; this glamour-tinged world of Charles’, reaches out and is telling you to ‘live in the past for a bit’ feels welcome.
While Magic Mirror's sparkling-sheen portrays the acceptance of life - Pearl Charles' diary, flinging open its pages to question long-drawn-out loves - the inclusivity means the eyes staring back from Magic Mirror flit between both yours and hers, all aided by her cool and breezy nature”.
Prior to wrapping things up, AllMusic had some nice things to say about Pearl Charles’ magnificent 2021 release. An artist who will grow and continue to put out wonderful albums, she is a talent that everyone needs to be aware of:
“In a pleasing tangle of sun-warmed melodies and 1970s influences, Pearl Charles strikes a confident, if laid-back tone on Magic Mirror, her sophomore album. The Los Angeles native has been bubbling under the radar for nearly a decade, trying her hand in a variety of indie subsets from lo-fi Americana to garage and psychedelia before landing on a more polished amalgam of vintage-flavored country-pop and West Coast soft rock. Her 2018 debut, Sleepless Dreamer, showed plenty of promise and laid the framework for the more fully realized sound she achieves here. As merry a romp as it is, opener "Only for Tonight" sets a bit of a misleading tone as both its boisterous mood and ABBA-inspired disco-pop are never again repeated during the set. After this, Charles finds her groove, turning in a bevy of tightly crafted gems that flirt with various facets of '70s pop, from the Fleetwood Mac stylings of "What I Need" and "Slipping Away" to the sweet "All the Way," which pairs swooping George Harrison-esque guitar leads with bubblegum uplift. "Sweet Sunshine Wine" is another standout whose easy hooks give way to a marvelously campy psychedelic breakdown. The production and arrangements throughout are impeccable, warm, and well-suited to the kind of thoughtful, low-key songwriting at which Charles excels. Neither basking in its vintage flavor nor overplaying its strengths, Magic Mirror is the kind of subtle record that reveals its pleasures through repeated listens. Even Charles' voice is a comfort; after a decade of mainstream mumblers and overwrought affectations, her enunciated vocal style brings a conversational tone to the songs. While similar in feel to her debut, Magic Mirror is a significant step forward for Charles, who really steps up her game here”.
One of my absolute favourite albums from last year, go and check out Pearl Charles’ Magic Mirror if you have not done so already. Songs like Only for Tonight are played, though one does not hear much else nowadays. She released a new track, Givin’ It Up, last month. I wonder whether she is already planning another album. In any case, Magic Mirror is an album to be heard many times over. It is a stunning work from…
A fabulous young artist.