Album Review: “Heart On My Sleeve”

Sahi Padmanabhan, Features Editor

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Photo courtesy of itunes.apple.com

While Mary Lambert might have gained her followers from being featured on the track “Same Love” from Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ “The Heist,” she has now proven that she’s much more than just an artist who “once sang on that one song.”

The 25-year old singer-songwriter and spoken word artist came out with her first full length album on Capitol Records on Oct. 14. “Heart On My Sleeve” has 11 tracks, with three bonus tracks on the deluxe version, including an alternate version of the last song on the album, “Sum of Our Parts.” The music takes the listener through a range of emotions, from lilting and buoyant to raw and soulful. It’s engaging; it’s emotional; it’s impossible to ignore.

“Secrets,” the first track on the album, was released as a single on July 15. As the happiest song on the album, the sound is reminiscent of Ingrid Michaelson or Lily Allen, backed with a bouncing piano track and lyrics that literally say “I don’t care.”

The third song, “Ribcage,” features Angel Haze and K.Flay with a rhythmic tick-verse and a full-out rap. This song, however, is probably the most exposed and visceral on the album; it’s also the longest one.

Backed with a simple and muted beat and occasional piano chords and electronically altered voices, the lyrics are thrown under a spotlight. While the song can get a little graphic and push the envelope slightly with some of the lines, the overall emotional power of “Ribcage” drowns out any complaints with her word choice.

The track immediately following is the standout on the entire album. As soon as Lambert’s voice made an appearance on “Dear One,” the hairs on the back of my neck rose up and goose bumps covered my arms. The song isn’t exactly a song: it’s a spoken word poem backed with ethereal voices and a single repetitive note on the piano. While it feels a little strange to have a spoken word poem on a primarily R&B album, her lyrical words are deserving of a solo on her album.

The combination of “Ribcage” and “Dear One” back to back make my favorite songs on the album.

The next song that needs mentioning on this album is her cover of the rock classic “Jessie’s Girl” by Rick Springfield. Purists might condemn Lambert for taking a classic and changing it as much as she did, but the two versions are so many worlds apart that it’s impossible to group the two in the same category. Lambert stripped the song down to the bare bones, slowed it down, and beautifully orchestrated her voice with a quiet piano track and an unobtrusive string section. Lambert’s voice is full and rich in some portions while being breathless and emotive in others. Giving the song a fresh twist, Lambert gave “Jessie’s Girl” a whole new meaning.

Finally, I would be amiss without acknowledging the last song on the normal version of the album. “Sum of Our Parts” speaks to something broken and sad. It’s something that everyone can relate to in some way. At multiple sections of the song, I felt a chill go down my spine. The repeating line of the song is a message to leave the listener thinking about the album long after it turns off: “We are more than the sum of our parts.”

Of course, the rest of the album is just as amazing. “Monochromatic” is vulnerable and striking, and the title song, “Heart On My Sleeve” provides a perfect respite from the emotionally-laden songs that had preceded and “Wounded Animal” takes the listener right back to the deep, dark part of his or her feelings.

Even after listening to the deluxe version of the album, which gave me three more songs, I was still left sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for more. Needless to say, Lambert’s debut album, “Heart On My Sleeve” will be capturing my mind for a long time.