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I'm continually amazed at how many talented singer-songwriters are in the Nashville area. I've said many times that there is a really good reason that it's called Music City. You can walk into any bar at any time of day and find live music playing, and most of the time the people playing are great. Even if you're not at a bar, there are still many talented young musicians all over Nashville writing and recording songs that they wrote. Callie Hopper is one of those people.
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I'm continually amazed at how many talented singer-songwriters are in the Nashville area. I've said many times that there is a really good reason that it's called Music City. You can walk into any bar at any time of day and find live music playing, and most of the time the people playing are great. Even if you're not at a bar, there are still many talented young musicians all over Nashville writing and recording songs that they wrote. Callie Hopper is one of those people.
At one listen through of this album, I first noticed that instrumentation on this album is sparse. An example is the track "Dream Come True", which is just piano and vocals, with a little bit of guitar in the background. The song reminds me a lot of Adele's "Someone Like You", another song that is primarily piano. Normally I'm not really a fan of this, but Callie Hopper's hushed vocals give the song a more intimate feel. The very next track, "Please Still Love Me", is just guitar and vocals. The track after that, a 9 minute-long ballad called "Epilogue", is just piano and vocals. There's a lot of that on this album, and Hopper's voice really compliments the sparse instrumentation quite nicely.
That aside, there are still songs on here with a full band. The very next track after "Epilogue", called "Gone", is an example of a song on here with a more distinct country feel, complete with violins and banjos. There are some that are mostly guitar and vocals, but with banjos, violins, and mandolins sprinkled on the songs to give them a little extra push.
As for the songs themselves, there isn't a bad track on here. Listening to these songs, I'm reminded a lot of a country version of Adele. The album's themes are even similar to Adele's 2011 album 21, with songs that are about love, but that have a certain sadness to them. At least, the slower ones give me that impression.
Since I don't think I've given a real opinion on this album yet, I'll go ahead and cut to the chase: I really like it. It's a bit long-winded, but the songs are awesome and a lot of fun to listen to. There are a lot of good things happening on this album, ranging from Hopper's lovely voice to the stripped-down instrumentals that are present on the album.
I think the album's biggest weakness is that it is so long-winded, and at times it's easy to lose where you are. Still, it's a great album to listen to, and Callie Hopper shows incredible promise as a singer and as a songwriter.
Conclusion: Based purely on enjoyability, Notes On Love and Such is an album from an upcoming Nashville artist that I'd recommend to anyone who just wants to listen to a good album. It's very sweet musically and bittersweet lyrically.
Overall: 7-8/10
Favorite tracks: Steal My Heart Tonight; Come Back For Me; Please Still Love Me; Gone; New Day; Tall Girls
That aside, there are still songs on here with a full band. The very next track after "Epilogue", called "Gone", is an example of a song on here with a more distinct country feel, complete with violins and banjos. There are some that are mostly guitar and vocals, but with banjos, violins, and mandolins sprinkled on the songs to give them a little extra push.
As for the songs themselves, there isn't a bad track on here. Listening to these songs, I'm reminded a lot of a country version of Adele. The album's themes are even similar to Adele's 2011 album 21, with songs that are about love, but that have a certain sadness to them. At least, the slower ones give me that impression.
Since I don't think I've given a real opinion on this album yet, I'll go ahead and cut to the chase: I really like it. It's a bit long-winded, but the songs are awesome and a lot of fun to listen to. There are a lot of good things happening on this album, ranging from Hopper's lovely voice to the stripped-down instrumentals that are present on the album.
I think the album's biggest weakness is that it is so long-winded, and at times it's easy to lose where you are. Still, it's a great album to listen to, and Callie Hopper shows incredible promise as a singer and as a songwriter.
Conclusion: Based purely on enjoyability, Notes On Love and Such is an album from an upcoming Nashville artist that I'd recommend to anyone who just wants to listen to a good album. It's very sweet musically and bittersweet lyrically.
Overall: 7-8/10
Favorite tracks: Steal My Heart Tonight; Come Back For Me; Please Still Love Me; Gone; New Day; Tall Girls