Carnival

1	Colour of a Carnival 3:23
2	Sign on the Door 4:16
3	The Rain 3:42
4	Light Up a Candle 2:47
5	Hard Road 3:59
6	Nothing at All 3:21
7	Railroad 4:21
8	I Got You Now 3:14
9	Dangerous 5:04
10	Surrender 3:55
11	You Make Me Sing 4:10
12	Don't Look So Sad 4:02

Barnes & Noble

Kasey Chambers has grown up with her songs. With each album -- from her early, navel-gazing musings with the Dead Ringers, through each new chapter of a solo career launched with The Captain, and up to the current Carnival -- she's been brutally frank about her fears, her triumphs, her mood swings, her self-doubt, her maternal instincts, and her anger at perceived slights. The former teen phenom is now a woman and a mom, and Carnival reflects a new maturity, informed by maturity's attendant upheavals. The old demons haven't been banished -- the doom-laden rock of "Colour of a Carnival" frames a confession of opportunities missed -- but motherhood seems to have opened Chambers' heart and steeled her will. The restless shuffle of "Sign on the Door" ("says lonely don't live here anymore") finds Chambers exulting, in a voice more animated than we've ever heard from her, "Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Look at what I've found!" In "The Rain," a tender confession that alternates between muted, shuffling rhythms in the verses and soaring, triumphant choruses, she recites a litany of momentous personal changes she's determined to effect, including "I will try to face everything that scares me." There's new grit in her determination to kiss off a loser lover in "Light Up a Candle," and as a wah-wah guitar wails a retort, she relishes her newfound strength, practically luxuriating in the lyric, "You say forever / I say for now…baby, I don't need you around." Rich, oftimes beautiful, always provocative, Carnival may be the moment Kasey Chambers pulls away from the pack. David McGee

All Music Guide

After firmly establishing herself as the most gifted artist on Australia's country music scene with her first three solo albums, Kasey Chambers has given herself some new worlds to conquer on 2006's Carnival. While Carnival is roots-friendly enough that it isn't likely to seriously alienate most of her fans, this album does represent a clear and decisive break from the country-influenced approach of her earlier music; most of these 12 songs are easygoing but satisfying roots rock with a bluesy undertone, though the vengeful "I Got You Now" is real-deal rock & roll with plenty of tough rave-up guitar from Mark Punch, there's a jazzy sway to "Light Up a Candle," and "You Make Me Sing" is a sexy bit of late-night funk. Carnival places Chambers' music in new surroundings, but for the most part she herself (thankfully) seems little changed. As a vocalist, Chambers remains wonderfully expressive while maintaining a realistic emotional palate at all times, and her instrument is simple but gorgeous. As a songwriter, she keeps getting better at writing about the stuff of everyday lives (love, lust, disappointment, getting on with life) with an uncommon degree of horse sense and attention to detail, and if anything, the new musical backdrops have added to the depth of her emotional landscapes. And with her brother Nash Chambers once again on hand as producer, the music is as soulful and smart as her singing, which is no small accomplishment. With Carnival, Kasey Chambers gives up her title as the greatest Aussie country singer alive and becomes -- the greatest Aussie singer around today? Maybe that's going a bit far to make a point, but after hearing this album, most people would be much less likely to argue the point. Mark Deming

Billboard

One of the most captivating voices around. Ray Waddell