Harriet - (Singer with echoes of Karen Carpenter)*

I played some of the Harriet songs and did not find any echos of Karen. In my opinion, of course. To me she has like a Britney Spears kinda tone on her voice. Apologies if that sounds funny but I don't have the musical knowledge on how else to describe a singer. Akiko Kobayashi sounds very alike in "How could I ask for more". Not Karen, but makes you wonder how suited that song was for her had she recorded it.
 
This performance illustrates a point I made a while back. She sounds just different enough from Karen that she sounds like what Karen might have sounded like today had she lived.

My imagination runs wild listening to her originals with my eyes closed, and imagining Karen and Richard performing them in 2021 in an alternate timeline.
 
For those who wished Harriet would cover a Carpenters song...



She really does sound like Karen at times but I could really do without the Autotune. It's subtle but it's definitely there. Hard to know if she needs it or if it's a lazy production choice.

Ed
 
She really does sound like Karen at times but I could really do without the Autotune. It's subtle but it's definitely there. Hard to know if she needs it or if it's a lazy production choice.

Ed
I don't know about the autotune...how can one tell for sure?

And she does sound sort of "Karen-like" at times (the key words here being "sort of" and "at times")...that "once in a lifetime, once in the world" rich, warm, uniquely resonant tonal quality is just not fully there...but, why would we expect it to be?
 
This performance illustrates a point I made a while back. She sounds just different enough from Karen that she sounds like what Karen might have sounded like today had she lived.

...
Besides subtle tonal differences the give away to an older Karen is in the breath control - Harriet can't quite do the lines "Time and time again..." and "Surely time will lose..." In one single, almost impossible breath....maybe the 70 year old Karen might have had that problem too...maybe...
 
I really like Harriet's arrangement and I must say that I would love to have heard Karen sing a somewhat similar unplugged version of this song (say, as an appended album cut) with a bare minimum of acoustic accompaniment, and without the background vocal overlays or fuzz guitar solos.
 
Besides subtle tonal differences the give away to an older Karen is in the breath control - Harriet can't quite do the lines "Time and time again..." and "Surely time will lose..." In one single, almost impossible breath....maybe the 70 year old Karen might have had that problem too...maybe...

Most singers lose that ability, as well as some of their range, as they get older and certainly usually by their 70s. In concert Celine Dion, who is renowned for having some of the best lungs in the music business, used to be able to sing the below (bolded) phrase - which lasts some 14 seconds - with one breath, but not any more. And she’s only 53.

The feeling that I can't go on
Is light years away
'Cause I'm your lady

And you are my man
 
Most singers lose that ability, as well as some of their range, as they get older and certainly usually by their 70s. In concert Celine Dion, who is renowned for having some of the best lungs in the music business, used to be able to sing the below (bolded) phrase - which lasts some 14 seconds - with one breath, but not any more. And she’s only 53.

The feeling that I can't go on
Is light years away
'Cause I'm your lady

And you are my man
Great example. The example I had in mind is Judith Durham of The Seekers. Listening to her in the '60s and listening to her today, her voice is still exquisite, but it's definitely older and less polished.
 
Great example. The example I had in mind is Judith Durham of The Seekers. Listening to her in the '60s and listening to her today, her voice is still exquisite, but it's definitely older and less polished.
The first artist that came to mind in this discussion about "losing it" with age is Gordon Lightfoot. He's 82 now and wow, he does NOT sound like he did in his hey day. I can't put my finger on exactly when his vocals declined, but the last album where he sounded anything like "his old self" was on his Waiting For You album from 1993. So, doing the math, that put him at 54. So the voice "left" sometime after that. Unfortunately, that is the same age I am now (54) so I just got a dose of reality about aging as I remember when that album came out like it was yesterday. I hope the next 28 years don't pass as fast as the last 28...but I digress...
 
Great example. The example I had in mind is Judith Durham of The Seekers. Listening to her in the '60s and listening to her today, her voice is still exquisite, but it's definitely older and less polished.

I saw her in concert with the Seekers in 2014 as part of their delayed Golden Jubilee farewell tour, a year after she suffered a cerebral haemorrhage at the age of 70 and had to learn to write and walk again during her convalescence. Amazingly, in a live setting any difference in her voice to their original recordings was barely perceptible. The incongruence between the sight of a frail lady having to be helped on stage, and what came out of her mouth when she stood there and sang, brought many people in the audience to tears, including my mother who was sat right next to me. That concert was an amazing experience.
 
I saw her in concert with the Seekers in 2014 as part of their delayed Golden Jubilee farewell tour, a year after she suffered a cerebral haemorrhage at the age of 70 and had to learn to write and walk again during her convalescence.
I'm so envious that you were able to attend that. I so wish I could see them in concert.
 
Two of Harriet's upcoming shows will be live streamed: 25th/26th September. Tickets available.
@HarrietsMusic on Twitter
 
Harriets new single is out today called Nothing hurts like you from her forthcoming album recorded in Stockholm.
Love the new logo of her name also.
Just having a first listen on Amazon.
 
Harriets new single is out today called Nothing hurts like you from her forthcoming album recorded in Stockholm.
Love the new logo of her name also.
Just having a first listen on Amazon.

Official video up also. Doesn't sound much like Karen in this one.


 
Harriet had an Instagram Q&A the other day and she had some lovely things to say about Karen when asked “Did she like Karen Carpenter” and said that her favorite song of all time is “A Song For You” and said Karen’s version is one of her favorites.
 
Harriet had an Instagram Q&A the other day and she had some lovely things to say about Karen when asked “Did she like Karen Carpenter” and said that her favorite song of all time is “A Song For You” and said Karen’s version is one of her favorites.
Nice to read- and welcome to the Boards!
 
Just to let everyone know that Harriet has dropped some discount codes for tickets to a couple of her dates on her upcoming tour. Grab them while you can!

Cardiff - Saturday 3rd June
Promo code: VIP
Deal: £15 tickets

Bury - Saturday 17th June
Promo code: 241HARRIET
Deal: 2 for 1 tickets
 

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I played some of the Harriet songs and did not find any echos of Karen. In my opinion, of course. To me she has like a Britney Spears kinda tone on her voice. Apologies if that sounds funny but I don't have the musical knowledge on how else to describe a singer. Akiko Kobayashi sounds very alike in "How could I ask for more". Not Karen, but makes you wonder how suited that song was for her had she recorded it.
I agree. I can’t really hear any similarities to Karen at all.
 
No disrespect to her as an artist but I couldn’t listen to an entire concert of hers, think I’d fall asleep.
 
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