Tracy Chapman

It's a measure of how much things have changed since November 4, 2008 that it's no longer clear whether Tracy Chapman intended the title of her latest release to be ironic or genuinely hopeful, nor is she necessarily the easiest singer-songwriter to read at all times. It's easy to lose oneself in the softly scratched gold of her soothing vocals when she stays within this kind of slow, inoffensive stuff, which can lead to her message falling between the cracks.

Producer Larry Klein may have worked with some great artists (including his wife, Joni Mitchell), but his style turns Chapman from risotto into oatmeal—sweetening and softening all of her interesting flavor and texture. It's almost impossible to imagine that this is the same woman who wrote an indelible hit like "Fast Car," which is nothing if not distinctive. Still, despite the wasted potential, it's not a bad record. Chapman's vocals remain capable of delivering emotional nuance, and while the instrumentation never rises to the level of interesting, none of it could be mistaken for tacky or even overly calculated. It's more that she's been dyed in the colors of a lesser Joni Mitchell record, and she deserves better than someone else's garments altered to fit.

—Hillary Brown
12.04.08

For Tracy Chapman, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Twenty years after her self-titled debut made her an unexpected overnight star, Chapman's music has changed remarkably little, and while it would be unfair to say she's revealed no stylistic growth since her first album, two decades on she's still following a remarkably similar path, offering well-crafted, midtempo acoustic-oriented songs rooted deep in issues of social justice and matters of the heart on her eighth album, Our Bright Future. Produced by Larry Klein, best known for his work with Joni Mitchell, Our Bright Future doesn't sound retro quite so much as it seems to have appeared by magic from some time warp linking Chapman to the early '70s, complete with Steve Gadd delivering supremely tasteful drumming and Dean Parks doing the same on guitar. With the exception of the sly "I Did It All," in which Chapman assumes the voice of some wild-child celebrity celebrating her paparazzi-worthy exploits, Our Bright Future covers the thematic territory you'd expect from Chapman -- the universality of faith against the factionalism of religion ("Save Us All"), the folly of war ("Our Bright Future"), the struggle to overcome cynicism in a culture gone wrong ("Thinking of You"), the longing for a better world ("Something to See"), and the sweet solace of love ("A Theory"). Chapman's songs are both heartfelt and literate, as they've always been, and the production and arrangements are free of clutter, allowing her subtle but passionate vocals to take the center stage without strain. The craft of Our Bright Future is impressive and Chapman's talents are as clearly evident as ever, but unfortunately this album offers precious little in the way of anything fresh or unexpected from this artist. There's a fine line between doing what you do best and simply following formula, and Our Bright Future finds Chapman leaning too far towards the bad side of that equation for her own good. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide