Charlotte Martin's day will come. Her voice is too pure. Her piano playing is too chilling. Her songs are too damn catchy. Charlotte Martin is too good to be opening a show in one of Portland's smaller clubs. Her show would fit just as comfortably in front of thousands headlining Carnegie Hall.
Martin's major label debut, In Parentheses, was well received in 2003 drawing comparisons to Sarah MacLachlan and Fiona Apple among others. Those comparisons didn’t catapult her into an overnight star however, as last night’s show at Dante’s seemed to indicate. Clearly most of the small crowd was there to see the night’s headliner, Sondre Lerche, the 21st century Norwegian version of Donovan, who put on a very fun show by the way. In fact, most of the crowd showed up well into Martin’s fifty-minute set.
Those in attendance who did get there early were treated to ten songs of Charlotte’s attention-grabbing voice and at times, spine-trembling playing. Whether it was the playful naughtiness of "I’m Normal, Please Date Me," the straight forwardness of "Everytime It Rains," or the hauntingy beauty of "In Parentheses." Martin always seemed in total control of the room. All ears found themselves in anticipation of her every note, and she never failed to deliver, even when her words bordered on manic depression. Her brave cover of The Cure’s "Just Like Heaven," proved that not only could she write a beautiful melody, she can take an existing beautiful melody and mold it in such a way that makes you appreciate it all over again.
I have a feeling the wonderfully talented Charlotte Martin won’t be playing venues of this size for much longer. In fact, I’m willing to bet next time she makes it back around to Portland, she’ll be playing a place twice this size (and headlining, to boot!). I feel lucky to have seen her early.
Charlotte Martin will be touring this summer with Liz Phair, Katy Rose and The Cardigans on The Chicks With Attitude Tour.
