Album Notes

WHAT THE PRESS IS SAYING ABOUT "WHEN I WAS MADE"... PERFORMING SONGWRITER MAGAZINE, March/April 2004 "Her voice [is] a full, expressive instrument with the gentility of Suzanne Vega and the soft punch of Rickie Lee Jones...On Carey's fourth album 'When I Was Made' she adds...a warm, rootsy mix, reminiscent of country-tinged chanteuses like Bonnie Raitt and Lucinda Williams (if not as rough as the latter). The result is a lovely, shimmering, heart-felt record, highlighted by springy ballads like 'Open Wide' and 'Chemistry,' both of which, in tone and content, deal poignantly with the imperfections of romance." PASTE MAGAZINE, February 2004 "Edie Carey is gifted with one of those voices that could sound great singing anything. So the mystery and beauty on her [third] studio full-length is how she maintains an intimate, delicate approach on her elegant, if low-key singer-songwriter folk-pop. Economic instrumentation forces all your attention toward the gentle story-telling, rich with humanity and insight... Vulnerable and pleasing, Carey draws us into her world, where we find we have a lot in common." HARP MAGAZINE, March 2004 "Bare of self-pity and full of down-to-earth revelation, 'When I Was Made' is a little country, a little adult-contemporary, and a lot of fine music." COUNTRY MUSIC WEEKLY, June 2004 "****(four stars)" THE ONION, July 2004 "What sets [Carey] apart...is her effortless ability to be gentle: The songs on last year's 'When I Was Made' don't need to get loud to be effective. Listen closely, and expect to be impressed." GRITZ: MAGAZINE OF SOUTHERN CULTURE & MUSIC, Spring 2004 "Once in a while, while plowing through the piles of CD's we get here at Gritz, I happen across a real diamond in the rough. Such was the case with this album from Edie Carey. This girl has one of the most pleasing voices I have heard in a while, and her songwriting only serves to enhance the whole package. Moody, beautiful tunes like 'Open Wide' mix with up tempo acoustic romps like 'With Our Hands' and 'Chemistry.' A beautiful, beautiful album." BOSTON HERALD, October 2004 "You know the Americana trend has taken hold when one of New York City's slickest acoustic-popsters, Edie Carey, adds banjo and dobro to her indie album 'When I Was Made.' The sound suits her, too. It's a tuneful, lightly plaintive folk-pop winner..." NEW HAVEN ADVOCATE, September 2003 "'When I Was Made'...is filled with tuneful contemplative, gentle folk tunes with a full complement of twangy banjo-dobro-pedal steel backing. Carey's got a rich, breathy voice, and breaks the mold enough to keep it interesting." ALBUM DESCRIPTION... The title of Edie Carey's third studio release, "When I Was Made," is a helpful key when listening to this lush and intimate new collection of songs. Creation is a theme that reappears throughout the album, most notably in the rolling, mesmerizing "Chemistry," inspired by Shelley's Frankenstein, and in "If I Start to Cry," in which Carey asks some of the hardest questions a child can ask of a father: I'm just like my mother / And if you don't love her / What does that mean about me? But the album title also seems to point to her own re-making of herself as an artist. From the first vibrant moments of "With Our Hands," it is clear that Carey has taken a mindful step in a rather different musical direction. This is by far her most countrified recording to date, with its liberal sprinklings of banjo, pedal and lap steel, and dobro throughout. Yet, it's not so much the instrumentation that's changed, but her tone. There is an almost palpable maturity and depth in her voice that can only come from three years of rigorous touring and simply growing up. She sounds so at home on this record, so laid back, and yet fierce at the same time. Carey is more confident than ever, and she is not afraid to take her sweet time carving out her stories right before your eyes. Produced by Evan Brubaker and Troy Glessn