Back to Beth
Back To Love is a delightfully chilled-out return to Beth Nielsen Chapman's first commercial-sounding pop album in six years. By Shelley Marsden - 09/02/10
It reveals a voice of experience, coming from a life full of ups and also plenty of downs – the singer lost her husband to cancer in 1994, has since fought the disease herself and, most recently, had to have surgery to remove a benign brain tumour.
Rather than produce gloomy songs, however, her experiences have only served to make life all the richer, and this album is an upbeat celebration of her survival and those things that make it worthwhile, all delivered in such relaxed fashion that it’s easy to forget how much talent and skill is involved.
Though she’s fundamentally a Nashville-based ‘country’ artist, this album is pure, glorious pop – albeit with the odd acoustic moment and a nod to her love of Celtic music with the occasional inclusion of whistles and accordions.
Nielsen Chapman has assembled a breathtakingly good gallery of musicians to work with her on this album, including regular collaborator Annie Roboff and Benmont Tench on co-writing duties.
A great songwriter for herself and others (she wrote Faith Hill’s This kiss), Chapman brings an integrity and passion to music that is surprisingly hard to come across.
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