New York singer/songwriter Rachael Sage draws obvious comparisons with Sarah McLachlan and Tori Amos in that they all occupy similar ground of piano led melodic songs but cover a wide range of influences in their music. Sage deserves the comparisons with her contemporaries, and as an independent artist ‘Chandelier’ is an album that has the potential to reach a wide audience.
She’s an expressive artist and her songs have a warm, personal feel without ever feeling too introspective, it’s an impressive balance full of subtlety and understated observation.
Like the earlier artistic comparisons, she’s more pop/folk than folk/pop, with varied and sophisticated contemporary arrangements, lush production and a keen ear for a killer melody; this is an album that can be enjoyed on many levels.
The 13 songs (including one lovely instrumental) are full of top-notch musicians from Ben Butler (guitar), Todd Sickafoose (bass) and Rachael Davis (backing vocals) the arrangements and quality of the backing is of the highest order. This is matched with the quality of the songs, ‘Angel in my View’ is the most upbeat song with echoes of a 60s pop vibe, ‘Wishbone’ is a delicate, beautifully arranged piece, and ‘Corinne’ is lyrically strong and thoughtful; but wherever you look on ‘Chandelier’ there are interesting stories, characters and situations that make her stand out from the crowd.
‘Chandelier’ is easy on the ear and crammed with melodies and rich instrumentation, but it never feels throw-away, and this is a thoughtful and considered collection that will appeal to many.

Track listing
1 Vertigo
2 Invincible
3 Angel In My View
4 Blue Light
5 My Word
6 Corinne
7 Mexico
8 Wishbone
9 Moonlight & Fireflies
10 Site-Seeing
11 Hunger In John
12 Beloved
13 Chandelier

£12.99