Reviews: Lakeville

"Amy Correia doesn't pretty up her voice on "Lakeville". It's shaky and scratchy; it misses notes and sometimes catches or cracks. At first her songwriting can sound just as unpolished, with melodies that are reveries on old blues, folk or gospel. But like Michelle Shocked and Tom Waits, Ms. Correia turns imperfections into intimacies." -- Read the full review: [ download - pdf ]
-New York Times, Critic's Pick (Jon Pareles)

"Since her acclaimed debut, "Carnival Love," Amy Correia has been playing geographic hopscotch. So it's no surprise that on her follow-up, locations vie for attention. "Lakeville," named after her Massachusetts hometown begins in New York (a drunken train ride to "Coney Island, USA") then heads west via the Nina Simone-ish "California." Correia's waifish voice is both vulnerable and fierce, and it lends credibilitiy to the emotinal contradictions she sings about. On the fabulous roots-rocker "Dollar Lake," she describes a wayward beau––"A little long in the teeth/he was short on cash"––whom she still has the hots for. Likewise, on the moody "Beautiful/Ugly" (where the spirit of Jeff Buckley can be felt) she sings, "She's beautiful when she's crying/and swearing like a sailor." Recorded in roughly a week by producer Mark Howard (Lucinda Williams), "Lakeville" seduces with a bedroom intimacy––where torch songs, blues, roots and pop are bedmates, enjoying the bacchanal."
-American Songwriter (Robin Aigner)

"Amy Correia's voice is a weird thing, full of old blues, '20s jazz and hipster dawdling. Snaking through her knowing tunes like some ancient perfume, it slowly draws you into her world. Her songs are equally unusual, gentle and glowing one moment ("On Second Thought"), smoldering and sad the next ("Beautiful/Ugly")...Every song is a jewel, and you know instantly that here is a fresh perspective, free of cliché, bold enough to trust her considerable instincts."
-Harp Magazine, Rants & Faves (Ken Micaleff)

"Four years removed from the release of her acclaimed major label debut, "Carnival Love", singer/songwriter Amy Correia returns with "Lakeville". The album is a quiet little gem co-produced by Correia with Mark Howard (Lucinda Williams, Bob Dylan) on her own dime. The result is an intimate album with an immediate, live feel that suits Correia's distinct, old-timey vocals. Catchy hooks enliven Correia's intriguing first person narratives like the wistful "Coney Island, USA," dreamy "Stranded" and bluesy "The Devil and I" . Her melodies stick in your gourd, while her fanciful word play keeps you guessing."
-Paste Magazine (Holly George Warren)

"An outstanding piece of work which refuses to be categorised, by an artist with the talent to be make a major name for herself. Success in the grubby pit that is the music business can be down to many things, but there are three staples: talent, an x-factor and luck. Let’s not mess about here – Correia has a wad of talent and an x-factor the size of Texas. What she’s lacked is luck. If “Lakeville” doesn’t change that then there is officially no justice and they may as well close the courts and retrain the judges as newspaper columnists. There isn’t a single track on this record that won’t stop you doing whatever you’re doing and make you listen. Listen to the end. Not one. It’s that good. Pinning down Correia to a style is kind of like nailing jelly to the proverbial wall, and maybe that’s it. The song writing is exceptional, maybe that’s it. Her voice, sometimes beautifully pitched, versatile, sometimes broken, never impersonal, is up there with Michelle Shocked and Susanne Vega for simply forcing you to listen. Maybe that’s it. And here’s the rub – put all this together and you have an album which is both steadfastly original and non-conformist and yet familiar and enticing at the same time. That’ll probably be it. What she does, and it’s a rare, rare trick, it put the listener in ‘places’. Example: the track “On Second Thought” places you in a smoky club, with a modern day Nina Simone at the piano, and couples in evening wear listening appreciatively. On “California” you’re drinking a beer in a little wooden bar off Haight Street, hiding from the San Francisco sun and dreaming of Big Sur. “Lakeville”, the title track, despite being about Correia’s home town in Massachusetts, puts you in a New York music club, standing in the crowd with hundreds of others thinking about escape from the city."

Talent this big rarely goes un-noticed, and this is no exception. Correia’s debut album “Carnival Love” was produced by seven different producers, money no object, whilst signed to Virgin and then Capitol. Cue opening for Emmylou Harris in 2001 and a path to success. Yet, soon afterwards, she’d fallen from that ladder. She went straight from the Harris show back to her parents’ house in the country and split with her label. A return to NYC, a determination to keep going and the support of friends let to the seeds of “Lakeville”. Easy to say from here, but the suffering’s been worth it. The record’s already been critic’s choice in the New York Times, and the category-free 11 tracks that make it up look certain to launch her into the wider public consciousness. The songs are thoughtful, diary-esque, innermost thoughts. Sometimes playful, sometimes moving. Lyrically she can be as direct as Tracy Chapman, and then suddenly veer into the kind of literary layers that define Jay Farrar’s wonderful writing. But most of all she has that x-factor that makes it clear you couldn’t be listening to anyone else without ever ruffling feathers. “Lakeville” is an outstanding piece of work which refuses to be categorised, by an artist with the talent to be make a major name for herself. Play one song from it before leaving the house in the morning and you’ll still be humming it on the way home from work – and wishing you’d been late and listened to the other ten.
-Americana UK (James Clark)

Reviews: Carnival Love

"An astute songwriter who avoids cliches.....Ms. Correia is not just another quirky girl, the label often affixed to women who use their heads as aggressively as their hearts. She must face the fact that the music industry isn't very good at promoting women who are more like the cat that eats the canary than the fragile bird itself. This singular talent warrants a chance to disprove easy expectations...Ms. Correia deserves to be embraced by a loyal audience."
-The New York Times

“Sculpts gorgeous melodies with poetic flair...her songs are often feathery gems that combine cinematic imagery with her multi-instrumental skills on guitar piano, mandolin, banjo and baritone ukulele. ..a wonderful new album”
-The Boston Globe

“The love child of Patsy Cline and Jeff Buckley”
-San Francisco Examiner

"Correia creates hypnotic, homespun songs that draw from such influences as folk, pop, blues and french-style cabaret. Add to that her mesmerizing voice and a lyrical dexterity akin to Bob Dylan's, and you come up with one great find."
-Guitar World, Acoustic

"An accomplished songwriter...during her short set, she channeled an alcoholic Korean war veteran whose apartment she acquired in New York ("Chinatown"), previewed the [girl's room] tour's most catchy song ("Daydream Car," which might do for her what "Fast Car" did for Tracy Chapman), and then concluded with a stunning re-creation of Edith Piaf, in what sounded to be spotless French.
-No Depression

"With a Rickie Lee Jones-style smoky voice and intimate story-songs that Victoria Williams would be proud of, newcomer Amy Correia has launched herself into the adult-pop market with panache....backed throughout by her own mandolin and baritone ukelele, along with shimmering cymbal washes and light piano comping, Correia has the courage to let her raw rural mysticism take center stage."
-CMJ