Artists nowadays have more than just the radio as an outlet to get their singles out to the public, thanks in big part to iTunes. Every Tuesday, the humble folks at Apple pick a select few artists you've never heard of and give their singles away for free for a whole week. Unfortunately, most of these artists don't get very far from the bottom of the iTunes Store homepage, but thankfully, newcomer Erin McCarley is an exception.
Though she's been compared to iTunes powerhouses Sara Bareilles and Regina Spektor, McCarley's unique choice of lyrics and sound, combined with her powerful voice, make her debut album Love, Save the Empty a refreshing exception to the usual alternative-rock-pop songs about love that invade our airwaves.
The folks at Apple loved advertising her first track, Pony (It's OK),"" putting it as a free single of the week, as well as including it in their back-to-school sampler this past September. It shows all sides of McCarley's personality, which may be the reason why the iTunes public couldn't get enough of it. It starts out with piano that sets the happy and inspiring mood for the whole song before more drums and guitar come into the picture during the chorus. Here is where the lyrics are especially inspiring and catchy, just the way pop choruses are meant to be.
While the rest of Love, Save the Empty isn't as optimistic as its first track, it doesn't need to be. McCarley gracefully goes from one side of the spectrum of love (falling in love on ""Sticky-Sweet"") to the other (breaking up on ""Lovesick Mistake""), and by maintaining a consistently strong voice throughout, this diversity makes the final product that much stronger.
Another thing that makes it all the better is how catchy each song is in its own way. For example, happier songs like ""Bobble Head,"" ""Sticky-Sweet,"" and the title track all have their own combination of strong lyrics and a distinctive choice of instruments that make them completely separate from each other. This is also the case for the darker songs on the album, like ""It's Not That Easy,"" ""Blue Suitcase"" and ""Lovesick Mistake.""
There are only a couple of instances in the songs from Love, Save the Empty that make them ""right"" for typical mainstream radio. For example, the bridge in ""Blue Suitcase"" is just a row of na-na-na-na-na's that do not seem necessary, and one of the verses in ""Bobble Head"" consists of the popular shout-out ""DJ, won't you play my song?""
But put these weaker moments and the couple of duds aside, and Erin McCarley's Love, Save the Empty is definitely worth checking out.
