Sophie B. Hawkins - Timbre

Mostly mediocre

This is album is definitely a maybe.
The songwriting is incredibly mediocre as is the engineering.
There are some examples of brilliance.
I would say about 90% of the music is mediocre, as if written in a day, and 10% is brilliant.
Good voice.
March 25, 2005

Brilliant.

After "Whaler" I thought it would be hardly possible for her to get much better. But she did it. Though I have an earlier issue of "Timbre" (w/o the bonus disc), I just have to say some words.

Timbre is a journey through different seasons. It begins with 4 summer-like songs (Walking in my blue jeans (and there is NO other summer song suitable for car ridings on lost and lonesome highways), No Connection, 32 Lines (a masterpiece showing her arrangment skills) and Mmm my best friend). And I think that the first one, Walking in my blue jeans, is in fact the best song I know. And I know many.

Sophie is such a gifted writer/producer/instrumentalist that I can only wonder. And be a bit unhappy, because such brilliant gems like in this album will NEVER be as successful as they deserve. Her arrangements are not only loveley, but carefully designed, filled not with chords or layers but with thousands of small melodies that make the songs glitter. Of course, this kind of very complex, almost sophi-sticated music does not fit into every listeners ear (and that's too bad).

After the four summer songs fall is coming, leading us with harmonic and temptive melodies directly into cold winter (Your tongue like the sun in my mouth, Help me breathe). And after all a glimpse of springs light, brought to us by "The one you have not seen".

The incredible good performances of her and the band (brilliant: Paul Bushnell and his bass), and the difficult but very well done mixing and mastering complete the image I have:

Sophie at the top of her game. July 21, 2004

A big thumbs up!

This is possibly the most overlooked CD of the past few years. I bought it on a trip to NYC when I remembered how much I loved 'As I lay me down'(on 'Whaler') as a kid. Since then, I have been hooked on this exceptional and refreshingly original artist (I have even travelled to the US just to see her live!).

The CD lives up to its title and is a perfect blend of different musical styles. This lady is not afraid to take risks, in the name of her integrity and musical vision, and this album clearly demonstrates that fact. I would buy the CD for 'Bare the weight of me' alone.
These songs are not as digestable as the previous those on the two albums, which is probably why it didn't sell as well but it is definitley, by far, the best album that I own.
Ian April 21, 2004

Sophie takes a mulligan---and gives the true fans a bonus.

First things first: this is a reissue of Sophie's 1999 offering, which was released on Columbia. Unfortunately, as has been the case since Tommy Mottola took over Sony Music, Columbia has not given its best artists their proper backing. So when Sophie and Columbia got into a battle over the use of a banjo on "Lose Your Way", the writing was on the wall. The album was left out to dry, and Sophie even had to pay for a good bit of the advertising, which had to be a bit embarrassing. Flash forward to 2001, and Sophie starts up her own label, Trumpet Swan, with Rykodisc handling the distribution. Timbre is rereleased, with a bonus disc(if there ever was one) included, as a way of thanking her most loyal fans---and giving her videos a way to be seen other than on MTV or VH-1, which never show videos that much anymore, regardless.

Now about the music: it's gorgeous. This is Sophie the songwriter at her very best, incorporating the finest elements of singer/songwriter pop from the last thirty years. The unsung gem has to be "Nocturne", for it's subtle synth reps towards the end, with "The Darkest Childe" getting honorable mention for its raw lyrical edge(though I think the "Explicit Lyrics" warning is totally unwarranted and silly at best) and inventive use of percussion loops.

Sophie produced this album(and played most of the instruments) almost entirely by herself(Peter Asher, of James Taylor/Linda Ronstadt fame, handles the exec duties), with an assist from Kevin Killen on the soundboard. Also worth mentioning is that "Lose Your Way", easily the most accessible of all the tracks, was culled for the soundtracks of Dawson's Creek and(in the remix originally favored by Columbia) Bounce. The later version is availble as well on the bonus disc, which also contains a Quicktime version of the video for "No Connection", which in itself is reason enough to buy this album all over again. It was shot by Gigi Gaston, the director of The Cream Will Rise(the doucumentary about Sophie's life and music), and done quite inexpensively. Nonetheless, it's breathtaking in it's photography, and Sophie has never been more beautiful than in this video. The video for "The One You Have Not Seen" is included, but is somewhat artificial compared to "No Connection", yet is still very nice. Lastly, a promo for the aforementioned documentary---to be released in both DVD and VHS February 26th---is on the bonus disc.

All in all, quite an impressive gift for both the casual listener and Sophie's very devoted Cracker Army!!! February 5, 2002

Multi-talented performer

I have the original version of Timbre and this new version. There are some sweet songs and some raw, emotional songs on here. The bonus tracks and demos are good, nice to hear how a song started out originally.

Sophie is a multi-talented performer. I like that, she writes her own music, plays her own instruments and produced this time around. Walking In My Blue Jeans (Strange Connection) is a lovely song, along with Lose Your Way, I Walk Alone and The Darkest Childe.

Sophie has taken us on a rollercoaster ride with her on this album. The songs are very moving. December 1, 2001

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