Little Bird

1976年，剛出生的Kasey Chambers，就跟著老爸Bill Chambers、老媽Diane，還有兩歲的哥哥Nash來到了南澳大利亞荒涼的納勒博平原（Nullarbor Plain）。白天，他們在平原上獵狐、抓野兔；到了晚上，一家人就圍坐在篝火旁，彈著吉他唱起鄉村音樂，就這樣過了10年。 1986年，Chambers一家重返「文明社會」，並開始了他們的職業音樂生涯，從那時起，Kasey Chambers就成了這個叫做『Dead Ringer』的家族樂團的領唱。Dead Ringer一共出了三張專輯，並在1996年憑借專輯『Home Fires』拿下了當年的ARIA最佳鄉村音樂專輯獎。1998年，隨著Bill Chambers和Diane的婚姻走到了盡頭，Dead Ringer也走到了盡頭，不過Kasey Chambers的星途卻才剛剛開始。 那一年，Kasey Chambers第一次以唱作人的身份推出了第一張獨唱專輯『The Captain』，就為她贏得個人第一個最佳鄉村音樂專輯獎（ARIA Best Country Album），2000年，這張專輯又為她奪得了最佳女歌手獎（Best Female Artist）。2002年、2004年，Kasey Chambers先後推出了專輯『Barricades & Brickwalls』和『Wayward Angel』，每張專輯一問世就立刻成為TOP 10上的常客，只要有新專輯上市的年份，ARIA最佳鄉村音樂專輯和最佳女歌手獎就從未旁落，身披多張白金唱片銷量佳績的Kasey Chambers已是名符其實的澳大利亞鄉村巨星了。 雖然Kasey Chambers也經常在美國各地巡演，並被滾石雜誌（Rolling Stone）評價為「the freshest young voice in American roots music」，但基本上她的影響力還只是在澳大利亞本土，並沒有象Keith Urban那樣走紅於美國主流鄉村樂壇。 Kasey Chambers長相平平，卻又喜歡穿唇環和沒品味的朋客打扮，幾乎挑不出幾張看著順眼的照片。不過如果你只是聽她的專輯，那又會是另外一番感受。 Kasey Chambers的嗓音很有些早期黑人R&B歌手的味道，還有一點娃娃音，純樸高亢，完全不同於人們所熟悉的美式鄉村女歌手的調調。Kasey Chambers應該是澳大利亞第一個把搖滾融入鄉村音樂的女歌手，這種風格在第二張專輯『Barricades & Brickwalls』裡顯得格外張揚，第一次聽那張專輯的人，一定會被她獨特的嗓音和強烈的節奏所吸引，但『Wayward Angel』裡的Kasey Chambers已經改變了很多，既不那麼鄉村也不那麼搖滾，而是越發疏緩和流行化了。不管你喜歡不喜歡，這或許是一個任性的天使，但決不是個壞女孩。 Australian singer-songwriter Kasey Chambers has released five solo albums to date. The newest, Little Bird, might be the best one yet. It’s a nearly flawless collection of rootsy pop-rock with sharp lyrics and oodles of hooky melodies. It’s also perhaps the most positive collection of songs Chambers has recorded. Gone are the days of “Not Pretty Enough,” where she plaintively wonders “Am I not pretty enough?/Is my heart too broken?/Do I cry too much?/Am I too outspoken?” On the album’s title track and first single, she’s in a similar predicament, singing “A little bird told me it’s plain as day/If I change my name and I change my way/You might come back,” but here she summons up some inner strength and comes to the conclusion “I don’t want you that bad.” Okay, so there are a few sad songs—it wouldn’t be a country record without ‘em. “Somewhere” is a record’s worth of sadness crammed into three minutes and forty-seven seconds of broken promises, unanswered prayers, senseless deaths, and aching hearts. By song’s end, you’ll be joining Chambers and guest harmony vocalist Patty Griffin in being “all cried out.” Blistering rocker “Train Wreck” is “Somewhere’s” sonic opposite; Chambers’ vocals (which, granted, can be nasal and little-girly on occasion, making them something of an acquired taste for new listeners) careen like an out of control locomotive or an out of control relationship, backed by loud, unrelenting electric guitars. Like all the songs on Little Bird, “Train Wreck” was recorded live, which gives the whole track a wonderfully chaotic vibe. Chambers draws upon a number of influences on these tracks, including early country, Western Swing, and rock n roll. Her influences shine through, with some amped up Jimmie Rodgers-esque yodeling on “Train Wreck” and also “Georgia Brown,” which feels like it could be a twangier version of a Chuck Berry song. In addition to Patty Griffin, Little Bird boasts a top notch roster of guest stars, including Australian pop singer Missy Higgins, who contributes background vocals to the optimistic “Beautiful Mess,” husband Shane Nicholson (who, as you’ll remember recorded tour de force album Rattlin’ Bones with Kasey in ’08), father Bill Chambers, and Kevin Bennett, from the Australian country band The Flood. Bennett teams up with Chambers on one of the record’s strongest tracks: “Love Like a Hurricane,” a sweetly sung, lap steel-buffered ballad that offers up the advice “Roll with the punches and laugh like a clown/And cry like the driving rain/Ask for forgiveness and drift like the wind/And love like a hurricane.” The deluxe edition of Little Bird includes three additional songs. “Old School,” “Hold On,” and ode to friendship “Millionaires” (with Chambers’ own BFF, Beccy Cole) are pleasant enough for anyone who’s a Kasey Chambers completist, but none of them are must-listen songs the way the non-deluxe tracks are. On the boisterous, banjo-and-Telecaster tune “Devil on Your Back,” Chambers sings what are perhaps the defining lyrics of Little Bird: “Don’t look back/Don’t waste time/Everything is gonna be/Just fine.”