(2020) Lesley Barth - Big Time Baby


Review:
Lesley Barth is a woman on a mission. Having spent the greater part of her life dealing with other people’s notions of achievement and success, she realized validation needed to come from within. In many respects, her new album Big Time Baby is all about starting over, “I think anyone who’s gone through major life transitions can relate to the incredibly uncomfortable period of figuring out you’ve outgrown your old life and trying to navigate the new one, while always learning to better love and forgive yourself.” The piano-driven opener, Lower East Side suggests Barth is having second thoughts about chucking the comforts of the corporate world for the uncertainty of life without a safety net. The chorus displays her discomfort both professionally and in her relationships, “I’m not ready for the big time, baby.” Yet, the way the song’s chorus builds and builds at the end suggests she may be more ready than she lets on. Personal discovery can be just as difficult as professional discovery. Looking through the wreckage of our own lives can be incredibly painful. Barth suggests on Woman Looking Back at Me that instead of judging, just being curious may be a more helpful approach, “And I’ve looked at this square so long just thinking it’s a triangle. And I’ve looked so long at my face so long, craning my neck for the right angle. But who is this woman looking back at the woman looking back at me?” The lone guitar opening If Love Doesn’t Change You echoes the song’s sense of emptiness, “If love doesn’t change you, then loneliness will.” It exposes the courage it takes just to go on. The sense of sorrow is matched by the sombre tone of the guitar solo. The atmosphere is slightly different on Making Decisions. Piano and organ offer a more hopeful note as Barth makes it clear in the chorus, “that I chose you and you chose me.” Taking the road less travelled doesn’t mask the pain; it just makes the journey more real. There are still bumps in the road, and heartbreaks to be endured. That’s one thing that you can always count on. For Lesley Barth, the path is easier to traverse because it is one she has chosen to take. While she may still be a Big Time Baby, the learning process has begun. And that makes all the difference in the world.


Media Report:
Genre: folk-rock, indie-folk
Source: CD
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits