{"id":46317,"date":"2022-03-18T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-18T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/as-we-are-2\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T11:20:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T11:20:08","slug":"as-we-are-2","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/as-we-are-2\/","title":{"rendered":"As We Are"},"content":{"rendered":"

Singer-songwriter Amy Correia\u2019s path to the here and now has been a winding one. Signed by Capitol at the turn of the century, her 2000 debut Carnival Love<\/i> presented her inventive, heartfelt songs, sung in a distinctive, delicate voice that invited comparisons to the likes of Victoria Williams and Nanci Griffith. Working a broad folksinger groove that embraced the full range of sounds now generally recognized as Americana, Correia won critical praise but was dropped by Capitol, only to resurface four years later with Lakeville<\/i> on the Nettwerk label. <\/p>\n

Correia has been an independent artist ever since, winning multiple Independent Music Awards for her self-released 2012 album You Go Your Way<\/i>, re-releasing Lakeville<\/i> in 2021, and following up with the March 25 release of her brand-new five-song EP As We Are<\/i>.<\/p>\n

The new songs find Correia in fine form, supported by a band of Mike Castellana (guitars), Andy Plaisted (drums), and Kimon Kirk (bass and backing vocals). Kirk, who doubles as producer of these sessions, has been a frequent collaborator in recent years, with Correia contributing a co-write to his 2021 solo album Altitude<\/i><\/a>. They share a core musical sensibility: honest, artful lyrics presented in deceptively simple yet textured and vibrant musical arrangements.<\/p>\n

Opener \u201cBow To The Fire\u201d has a rather meta feel, an overt celebration of creativity that neatly sums up Correia\u2019s life philosophy: \u201cAll we have to give the world and God \/ is ourselves as we are.\u201d The gently bluesy arrangement features stutter-stepping verses that move smoothly into the chorus before diving sideways into a tasty jam at the bridge that eventually resolves and returns. <\/p>\n

\u201cSunday Driver\u201d has a pleasantly daydreamy feel, a number about the joy of wandering at your own pace, unhurried by the tightly wound people around you. (Not that I\u2019d want to be the driver behind this person\u2026 but maybe I shouldn\u2019t be in such a hurry?) As Correia stretches out another syllable, her fragile voice rising and swerving, dipping and doubling back, another influence becomes apparent: Joni Mitchell. Not a name to be used lightly, that one, but it\u2019s there in the bones of these songs and performances.<\/p>\n

Midway through, \u201cSweet Things\u201d is a meditation on love and loss whose warm acoustic melodies balance out Correia\u2019s efforts to work through the bundle of mixed emotions in front of the mic. \u201cThe Beggar\u201d follows, a stark, intense story song whose titular narrator declares \u201cI know I\u2019m nothing to you \/ But I\u2019m still something to me\u2026 My mind is broken glass \/ So many changing shapes and colors.\u201d \u00a0At the bridge, the song billows upward and outward in an explosion of thoughts and chords, giving you a front-row seat to its narrator\u2019s troubled mind. \u201cThe Beggar\u201d is everything Phil Collins\u2019 \u201cAnother Day In Paradise\u201d wasn\u2019t: insightful, empathetic, raw and honest.<\/p>\n

My personal favorite here arrives in the form of closer \u201cWith All Of Us.\u201d A song with a continental melody and tidal flow, it celebrates in gentle and dreamy fashion the special tribe of which Correia is a member: the artists. \u201cThey kind of remind me \/ To share my love \/ With all of us \/ When they share their love.\u201d By its climax there\u2019s a lot going on, with acoustic guitars, layered vocals, bass, drums, and whispery percussion creating an almost orchestral lift, with Correia\u2019s gentle cries at the center of the storm.<\/p>\n

At five songs and 16 minutes, As We Are<\/i> feels like an appetizer rather than the full meal, but it\u2019s a strong showcase for Correia\u2019s abundant gifts as a songwriter and bandleader, and one well worth seeking out. These songs steadily work their way under your skin like lullabies for the soul.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":34475,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[10723],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-46317","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-amy-correia","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/46317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/46317\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=46317"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=46317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}