Charlotte Sands has released her debut album ‘can we start over?’.
Her highly anticipated album comes ahead of her world tour, including a stop in Glasgow this summer.
Speaking of the album, Charlotte said: “The inspiration behind the title ‘can we start over?’ came while writing a song for the album about the idea of restarting a relationship, and the idea of beginning again or reintroducing yourself to someone. I’ve changed so much over the last few years personally and in my career and I love the concept of starting over as who I am now with the information and knowledge I’ve gained. It’s not about forgetting the past or regretting our choices but more so letting go of the previous version of ourselves and meeting each other where we are at this moment in the phases that we’re currently in. I think this album for me represents exactly that, standing firmly where I am as the person I am today.”
To celebrate her album release, Charlotte shared with us 5 tracks that influenced ‘can we start over?’.
Sleep Token – Take Me Back To Eden
I’ve always loved when a song builds and transforms throughout its structure and ends in a completely different place than where it started. After hearing this song I was obsessed with the idea of making something almost cinematic and dramatic that feels like an entire journey and experience which had a huge influence when it came to writing the title track of my album ‘can we start over?’.
Evanescence – My Last Breath
Amy Lee is an undeniable icon and powerhouse. She’s the perfect example to me of the power of restraint and controlling your voice for specific moments throughout a song. She’s able to build a tension and create a mood simply based off of her tone and I’ve learned so much just by listening to her sing. I tried to create similar moments when making this album and instead of just belting every note I wanted to be intentional about each vocal performance and make sure it matched the mood or emotion we were trying to capture in that song.
Radiohead – Exit Music (For A Film)
I love this song and how isolated the guitar and vocals are but also how it gradually builds throughout. They have harmonies for added effect but always keep the focus being on the lead vocals making sure it’s front and center which I always gravitate towards.
Michelle Branch – Breathe
Michelle Branch is forever one of my favourite artists and songwriters of all time. I grew up screaming her songs in the back of the car and learning to play them on guitar before I had any idea what I was doing. Her music has always felt like the perfect math problem to me, the lyrics are heavy but the production matches the weight of the song’s depth making even the darkest songs feel easy to listen to. Her songwriting is brilliant and the way she’s able to turn a personal story into universal ear candy is something I will always be impressed by and strive for. It was so important to me to have acoustic guitars, live drums, and organic vocals on this album especially in songs like ‘get over it’, ‘blindspot’, and ‘dead body’.. These were most definitely influenced by her and my music will forever have a small string connecting me back to those roots.
Puddle of Mudd – Blurry
I love this song so much and have always loved the chords they chose. The guitar is playing a separate melody that supports the vocal but also has its entirely own life in the song which makes my brain feel like there is always something going on even in the simplest moments. There’s always something interesting or entertaining even when it feels bare and I think those types of choices when it came to alternative harmonies, chords, or drum patterns were very influential when making this album.
Check out Charlotte’s musical influence playlist below:
Listen to Charlotte Sands ‘can we start over?’ via Spotify: