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Carly and Martina – Are You Listening?

Florian Buechting Media Review No Comments

Carly and Martina - Are You Listening?

Carly and Martina - Are You Listening?
3.5

Rating

 3.5/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Debut album by talented sister
  • Very characteristic sound with strong voices
  • (Partially) nice storytelling, regarding it is pop music

Flyctory.com Cons

  • Some songs are too similar
  • Could be more catchy

A good friend of mine is a close friend of the US pop Duo Carly and Martina, so that I happened to get closer to their music. After listening to some of there song, I had no chance but reply “Yes” to their debut album title Are You Listening? Here are my thoughts about the record which has been released on 7th August 2020.

 

Carly and Martina – About The Artists

Carly and Martina are twins from Chicago. They are 18 years old. Their first success is also six years ago, when they wrote a song against bullying called Make Me Happy. Over the years, they grew quite a loyal fan base in the States and also have been featured in Radio Disney. They so far have just released quite a list of individual songs. The most successful was the 2019 Cracks, which has about half a million streams on Spotify.

 

Carly and Martina – Are You Listening? – Track by Track

The ten track album lasts 31 minutes. I unfortunately had a lot of trouble to find the right album cover as I had contradicting information. Excuse me if that’s wrong (at least I am pretty sure I reviewed the right album 🙂 )

1. For Life

I listened into Are You Listening? right after the 2020 Luke Bryan album. The slow-pop atmospheric sound of For Life is quite something different, but it is good – and makes me quickly get in touch with the album. The song is of course a bit thinner than Born Here Live Here DIe Here – finally, it is pop music. It is a nice genre mix.

2. Honeymoon

Carly and Martina stated in an interview that they wanted to have a “dreamy look at a new relationship” when they wrote Honeymoon.

Baby, you’re a honeymoon
I’m liking my new view, like the way I look on you
A cinnamon sun on a honeymoon
Loving is fun when I’m loving you, ah
Be my getaway, I’m thinking you’re my sweeter place
A cinnamon sun on a honeymoon
Loving is fun when I’m loving you, ah

This song is really cool. Quite a wide arrangement of instruments, a touch of lounge music, it is rhythmic and I like the way the lyrics are done as well. I recommend a listen!

3. Your Song

Your Song is more melodic, feels even a bit of souly to me. On the other hand, that arrangement makes me the track slightly more “handmade”, even though finally, there are a lot of drums and electric sounds in it again. Nice listen!

4. Alone

Alone is my favorite so far on the album. I do not like too many electronic sounds – and we have acoustic guitars and a touch of classic strings in this slow track. Very focused on the vocals, which leads to that very intimate feeling. Beautiful!

5. Future Isn’t What It Used to Be

The title of this song definitely makes me smile. Musically, I have to say that the song does not add too much to the album. It is a very similar sound compared to some of the songs before.

6. Divine Way (Interlude)

Divine Way is simply a fifty second interlude. I am not into interludes too much, but this makes me smile as it also states This is the end of side 1 of this record. Please turn it around to listen to the second side. Damn, how do I do that in Amazon Music?

7. Mine

The tracks starts quite intense and powerful, but then falls back to that soft, atmospheric tune sound of some of the other tracks. I love the way the young ladies tell their stories, though.

8. Dangerous Things

While listening to the previous songs, I more and more worried if the Carly and Martina sound could be too limited and songs feel to be very similar. The more I am happy about Dangerous Things, which adds some new elements to the album. A good listen.

9. Things Don’t Change

A very similar comment applies to Things Don’t Change. The tracks sounds modern, rhythmic (a bit of hip hop style rhythm even, though the girls definitely sing, not talk…) – that is a track I could imagine to listen to on a radio station very much. Nice.

10. Dead to Me

Dead To Me is a very rhythmic track again. I definitely enjoy the last songs of the album.

 

Carly and Martina – Are You Listening? – Amazon Music

At the time of reviewing, I had the quite unique situation that the album was available on Amazon Music and YouTube, but now on Spotify. Thus, here is an Amazon Music Link:

Carly and Martina – Are You Listening? – My View

On their debut album, Carly and Martina give a nice musical statement. Their sound is quite characteristic, which is definitely a plus. It can have a touch of becoming monotonous and boring, though. The more I appreciate the last tracks of the album, which illustrate how the sister can keep their unique sound, but still be a bit more mainstream and versatile. Finally, it is fun to listen to them, they underline their talent on Are You Listening?, definitely!

 

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