Sara Bareilles, Amidst the Chaos – Review

by Constance Tucker

Sara Bareilles is an American singer-songwriter, actress and author.  Her mainstream success was achieved in 2007 with the hit single “Love Song,” which reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. To date, Bareilles has sold over one million albums and over nine million singles and downloads in the United States alone and has earned seven Grammy Award nominations, including one Album of the Year nomination for her album The Blessed Unrest.  Bareilles composed music and wrote lyrics for the Broadway musical Waitress, for which she earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Original Score in 2016, and a Grammy nomination for Best Musical Theatre Album. In April 2018, Bareilles received acclaim for her portrayal of Mary Magdalene in NBC’s adaptation of a classic Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice rock opera, Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert, for which she was nominated for the 2018 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie.  Bareilles discography includes: Careful Confessions (2004); Little Voice (2007); Kaleidoscope Heart (2010); The Blessed Unrest (2013); What’s Inside: Songs from Waitress (2015) and now in 2019 Amidst the Chaos.

“Fire,” features the finest virtues of Bareilles’ voice, her sweetly hued timbre delivers the lyrics with passion and conviction.  “Fire,” is a well-honed tune that comes to terms that even with the best of intentions, love must come with passionate fire.  What is most delightful about this song is the use of a bridge, something sorely lacking in today’s music scene is the use of a bridge.  An extremely effective part of a song is back folks, and Bareilles has created a stunning and intoxicating listen with “Fire.”

“Armor,” is an anthemic song for female empowerment, recognizing the struggle that women still are going through to be treated with equality.  Bareilles explores the theme of what does not kill you, makes you stronger. In this case it is what builds an armor of strength and resilience.  The driving piano figure of the tune is the nexus of the song with powerfully adorned lyrics. Once again Bareilles invokes a beautifully conceived bridge that strengthens the tunes resolve.

Amidst the Chaos  will feature 12 songs, including one with Sara‘s Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert co-star, John Legend. Their duet is called “A Safe Place to Land,” which might possibly be tied to the Waitress song “A Soft Place to Land.” The album is produced by T Bone Burnett and will be released April 5th, 2019.  The Spring season this year will bring a beautiful bloom Amidst the Chaos.