Amber
Rhodes: Goodbye Yesterday
April 2006
By: Marco Nieves |
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With so much music out there that isn't worth a picayune, a sense
of relief comes along when you find a compilation of songs that
embraces the everlasting problem of loving the lover as much as
you love the villain. When it comes to letting go, the formulaic
flow of life stops mattering and you're left with what comes naturally,
be it smoking a harsh cigarette, having one or six drinks, sighing
with disbelief at the twilight outside the window that you've been
looking through for eight consecutive hours, or in Amber Rhodes's
case, singing a few songs that reveal, release and relieve.
In the fully enjoyable Goodbye Yesterday, Amber Rhodes gracefully
conjoins pop with the essential arrangements of country. What separates
country music from all other genres is the unavoidable energy in its
catchier songs and the flooring emotion behind its rip-me-from-stem-to-stern
ballads, never disallowing you to groove to your own rhythm amidst
themes of happiness or tribulation. Even as she sings the heartbreaking
Your Heart or Mine you can still sway slowly as you try to
capture every emotion without feeling stumped with sorrow or overwhelmed
with devastation. Her celestial voice that is as smooth as velvet
declares a power without need for theatrics or unnecessary decorations.
The songs come across as little stories, exposing blisters that will
eventually callous and heal and denounce the same concerns that anyone
can come across in the circumstances of everyday life in relationships.
The denuded affectation of Amber's music is mature and restorative,
in songs like Burn and So Long Goodbye, you get a spunky
hit that is aimed towards those that promised forever and lasted only
enough to cause damage. With moments when you feel like you're lost
in the backwash of sequestered hearts, emotional songs like Goodnight
Lullaby and Return Again mitigate and offer solace.
Amber's tunes, once they enter your ears, won't let go easily. The
vim is unforgettable, the passion is adhering and the heart in this
record proves that even though it has been broken at times, its sojourn
into the realm of devastation kindles the way into a much better place.
Sometimes it takes a lot, sometimes it takes everything, but the only
way to handle these situations is to take it as it comes and shed
the skin that has every bitter story written in stains and injuries,
and realize that it's both time and possible to say goodbye to yesterday.
http://www.amberrhodesmusic.com
http://www.myspace.com/amberrhodesmusic
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