Sometimes Just the Sky
A woman seated in a field with hay bales
Studio album by
Mary Chapin Carpenter
ReleasedMarch 30, 2018 (2018-03-30)
StudioReal World Studios, Box, Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom
GenreCountry, folk[1]
Length61:16
LanguageEnglish
LabelLambent Light
ProducerEthan Johns
Mary Chapin Carpenter chronology
The Things That We Are Made Of
(2016)		 Sometimes Just the Sky
(2018)		 The Dirt and the Stars
(2020)

Sometimes Just the Sky is a 15th studio album by American singer-songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter, released by Lambent Light Records on March 30, 2018. It features re-recorded songs from earlier in her career, with one track from each of her previous studio albums and a new title track. The album has received positive reviews from critics and was commercially successful, placing on several charts, and topping Official Americana Albums Chart in the United Kingdom.

Recording and release

The album was recorded live in studio at Real World Studios and was accompanied by a tour celebrating 30 years of Carpenter's recording career.[2] Carpenter set about to make the new recordings by choosing songs that were not hits of hers and that she also had not recorded on her 2014 orchestral album Songs from the Movie, which saw 10 cuts from her career reintepreted.[3]

Reception

The editorial staff of AllMusic scored Sometimes Just the Sky 31⁄2-stars-out-of-5, with reviewer Mark Deming comparing this to Songs from the Movie; he considers this re-recorded material to have "a strong enough personality of its own that it avoids this pitfall" of being weaker than the originals or unable to stand on its own as a musical statement.[1] Jim Hynes of Glide rated this release a nine out of 10, writing that fans can enjoy "intense listening" to the instrumentation and sometimes radical reinterpretations of Carpenter's songs, summing up that "there’s more than enough to savor here" while waiting for an album of new material.[4]

Track listing

All songs written by Mary Chapin Carpenter

  1. "Heroes and Heroines" – 4:14
  2. "What Does It Mean to Travel" – 3:36
  3. "I Have a Need for Solitude" – 4:35
  4. "One Small Heart" – 5:18
  5. "The Moon and St. Christopher" – 4:25
  6. "Superman" – 6:08
  7. "Naked to the Eye" – 3:31
  8. "Rhythm of the Blues" – 3:59
  9. "This Is Love" – 5:20
  10. "Jericho" – 4:43
  11. "The Calling" – 4:02
  12. "This Shirt" – 5:02
  13. "Sometimes Just the Sky" – 6:23

Personnel

Chart performance

Chart performance for Sometimes Just the Sky
Chart (2018) Peak
position
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[5] 7
US Folk Albums (Billboard)[6] 13
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[7] 29
US Top Album Sales (Billboard)[8] 42
UK Albums (OCC)[9] 74
UK Americana Albums (OCC)[10] 1
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[11] 6

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Deming, Mark. "Mary Chapin Carpenter – Sometimes Just the Sky". AllMusic. Retrieved 2023-02-03.
  2. ↑ Betts, Stephen L. (2018-02-08). "Hear Mary Chapin Carpenter's Evocative Re-Imagining of 'This Shirt'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2023-02-03.
  3. ↑ Kawashima, Dale (2018-04-04). "Mary Chapin Carpenter Talks About Her Album Sometimes Just The Sky, And Her Classic Albums And Songs". Songwriter Universe. Retrieved 2023-02-03.
  4. ↑ Hynes, Jim (2020-03-30). "Mary Chapin Carpenter Celebrates Thirty Years of Recording with 'Sometimes Just the Sky'". Glide. Retrieved 2023-02-03.
  5. ↑ "Mary Chapin Carpenter Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Mary Chapin Carpenter Chart History (Top Americana/Folk Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  7. ↑ "Mary Chapin Carpenter Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  8. ↑ "Mary Chapin Carpenter Chart History (Top Album Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  9. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  10. ↑ "Official Americana Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  11. ↑ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
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