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CHARLOTTE JOHANSEN: Upon Waking… Dream

Charlotte Johansen’s material has been described as “pop music for grown-ups”, which puts her near that dangerous territory known as AOR (adult-oriented rock), a genre no-one really wants to be identified by. Johansen needn’t worry as the majority of her third album doesn’t slip into that category. With production assistance by Jon Postlethwaite and Andre Upston, she has made a record that sounds contemporary and polished, albeit falling into a more conventional lull towards the end. This doesn’t detract from the really interesting touches found earlier: the stately strings of Not To Pass On, the mariachi-esque trumpet on Storm In A Teacup and the barbed indie pop of Longing For You and Plaything, making ‘Upon Waking… Dream’ not sound like an album from an unknown artist. Towards the end of the record the songs do seem to lose confidence and become drawn out. I Choose You is way too saccharine for me but this is a minor blemish as for much of this album the material and the singer are engaging and enjoyable.

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