I participated in the Mary Lambert Heart On My Sleeve album review program as a member of One2One Network. I was provided a free album to review but all opinions are my own.

Mary Lambert’s new Heart On My Sleeve CD in Stores 10/14/14

Music is such a huge part of our lives.  It is relaxing, relate-able, comforting, exciting and so much more depending on the artist and the style.

Before Mary Lambert achieved “quasi-stardom” (as she puts it in her typical self-deprecating way) for writing and singing the hook on Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ marriage equality anthem “Same Love,” the Seattle native was an aspiring singer-songwriter who also worked as a brunch waitress and bartender. After years of struggling both financially and personally, Lambert suddenly found herself signed to Capitol Records, releasing an EP (Welcome To The Age of My Body), getting nominated for two Grammy Awards (for “Song of the Year” and “Album of The Year”), and making history performing on the Grammy telecast with Macklemore, Lewis, and Madonna, while Queen Latifah memorably married 33 same-sex couples.   I am not sure how she refers to that as quasi-stardom but to me it sounds like full stardom and spending her time doing memorable and life changing things.

 

Mary has taken her love for music on the road and has written heart felt messages about things she can fully relate to.  She want to make a lot of money but when she describes what she wants it for – it isn’t for vain reasons – they are to make the lives of others better in a variety of ways.  She has written and created her music based on a list of goals that she tries to live by.

“Heart On My Sleeve” is a dusky love song that Lambert chose as the title track because she felt it summed up how she approached writing the lyrics on the album. “I’ve always lived my life completely open, both to getting hurt, but also to love,” she says. “I have experienced so much joy because I’ve allowed myself to connect. That’s not to say that I haven’t been burned, but with really profound sadness comes really profound joy. Because I’ve experienced some trauma and some really dark times, my capacity for joy is massive.”

 

I have listened to her music and my favorite track by far is Secrets.  Clearly so much of herself was written into that song and the best songs are those that are full of emotion and passion.

 

The tracks on the CD are:

Secrets

So Far Away

Rib Cage

Dear One

When You Sleep

Chasing the Moon

Jesse’s Girl

Monochromatic

Heart on my Sleeve

Wounded Animal

Sum of Our Parts

Sing to Me

Assembly Line

Sum of Our Parts Alternate Version

Her Heart on My Sleeve CD is available on October 14, 2014, but you can preorder it on Amazon or iTunes

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