The beauty of being an independent artist is that you can switch up your sound and experiment in any genre you want without anyone pigeonholing you into someone they want you to be. Unfortunately, sometimes the artist looks like a toddler who broke into their mother’s makeup case. They may think they look like a supermodel when the reality is closer to that of a clown.
Wisconsin native Carlie Hanson is an indie-pop artist who hit the scene in 2017 with the singles “Why Did You Lie?” and “Only One.” The latter caught the attention of the one and only Taylor Swift, birthing Hanson a short stint on Warner Bros. Records. With this taste of fame, the artist has kept a positive momentum, steadily releasing multiple singles, EPs, and the occasional LP until the present with her most current release, ‘too late to cry.’
‘too late to cry’ peels back the pop-punk attitude and focuses on the artist’s softer side, giving way to vibes similar to early Tori Amos, Michelle Branch, and Ani DiFranco. With themes centering around make-ups, break-ups, and the messes in between, Carlie Hanson doesn’t quite strike gold, but at least she is reaching out of her artistic comfort zone.
“baby” leads the EP in the right direction, feeling like a soundtrack to your local independently owned coffee shop, complete with the random conversation recorded in the background. The mood is chill mixed with the slightest bit of anticipation for things ahead.
The artist croons to her partner, claiming their relationship is the only thing she has ever been good at.
This is the complicated thing about being young and in love; it is easy to lose your newly discovered self. Your ideals melt away due to romantic feelings and dopamine. Usually, it is a little more than puppy love but not enough to sustain you both through the inevitable storms of early adulthood.
“covering faces” continues the crowded cafe undertone and adds a healthy dose of percussion to get at least one of your feet stomping. Here, Hanson sings about losing people amid our ever-changing lives.
Not everyone we meet is supposed to be a lifelong friend, lover, or even acquaintance. Some people come into our lives to teach us an important lesson. Be it positive or negative, the message rings indefinitely throughout our lives, reminding us that some people aren’t looking out for our best interests.
The EP’s title track, “too late to cry,” attempts to switch things up a bit by introducing a rhythm and blues quality to the refrain. Clumsily distorted vocals give this song an unpolished sound, ultimately taking away more than it adds.
If the artist had taken the extra mile by smoothing out the edges and including an additional artist more familiar with the genre, things could have gone more swimmingly. Left with this demo-style monstrosity, the song is a solid swing but a miss the size of a football field.
Luckily, the stumble of “too late to cry” fades quickly, and the EP returns to form with “how many hours.”
“how many hours” is a song begging to be played in the next indie rom-com shown at your downtown theater in Seattle. One can practically picture a young Scarlett Johansson walking down a rainy street with smeared mascara and a broken heart.
The artist questions the amount of time we spend on relationships that never quite work out. We waste minutes, hours, and days on people who aren’t right for us for whatever reason. We are so afraid of being alone that we put ourselves through literal hell hoping we can overcome these fatal flaws.
At the end of the day, we aren’t just squandering our time but ourselves as well.
The next track, “sinking,” feels too relatable in today’s economy as Miss Hanson puts us in the shoes of a young woman struggling to make ends meet. “Works two jobs, can barely keep her head up. Lost underneath all that sun, just trying to be someone.”
For many of us, this is a modern-day reality. We are too busy scraping up the few bucks we can, keeping ourselves too tired to even think about attempting to achieve our dreams. This is not the American dream we were told about.
While the words ring true, the instrumentation comes off slightly blander than many of the other tunes up to this point. While it doesn’t take away from the song’s meaning, it makes it less than memorable.
Track 6, “portland,” is raw vulnerability from the artist. Many of the songs on this EP deal with relationships and how they fall apart, and “portland” is no exception. Yet, somewhere between the pitch, simplicity, and lyrics, everything comes together in perfect harmony.
It’s a damn crime the EP wasn’t named after this song instead of “too late to cry.”
Maybe in the next life we could really make it. Take back the things we said ‘casue we were both full of shit. I know that’s a reach though. It’s okay, there’s no hope.
Seriously, “portland” feels like the crescendo of the album instead of the afterthought hiding towards the end. Using the song as the final track would have made much better use than where it lands, tying everything together.
Where it lies, the song becomes easily skippable — especially if you aren’t feeling the EP’s vibe.
The cover song “nutshell” ends our twenty-minute session with the artist.
Typically, anyone attempting to cover an Alice In Chains song shows their limitations in the vocal department compared to Layne Staley. Very talented bands such as Staind and Metallica, among others, have done their best to pay their homage to the late singer but almost always come up short. This is not the case here.
Turning the song into a pop-rock ballad changes things just enough to make it fresh while keeping the reverence it deserves. The words still hit just as hard as intended, even without the gritty guitar sound the band is known for.
Considering everything, ‘too late to cry’ is a solid effort from an artist squeezing themselves slightly out of their comfort zone. Most tracks on the EP are good enough to stand on their own as a single — which is saying a lot. While nothing here is as strong as 2018’s “Numb,” none of it has to be.
That’s the beauty of musical maturity — moving in a different direction means not having to one-up your last effort. Does Poppy’s next single have to top “Fashion After All?” Of course not; it would be silly to even try to compare where she was then and where she is now.
While Carlie Hanson’s changes aren’t nearly as dramatic as Poppy’s, the sentiment still stands. Move forward and embrace the change. Artists evolve, and so do our musical tastes.
The question remains whether or not these changes are cemented in the artist’s future or just another revolution in her music box.
What is your favorite track on ‘too late to cry?’ Let us know in the comments below!
Listen to ‘too late to cry’.
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Charles E. Henning
Self-proclaimed "entertainment guru" Charles E Henning fills his free time reading books, watching movies, and listening to music. While not always up on the latest trends, he is consistently willing to dissect the themes of pop culture.
