Continuing my list of best debut albums (with quite a few caveats)…
Sara Bareilles – Little Voice (2007)
This selection is a bit of a cheat, but it’s also one of the reasons I wanted to do this theme week in the first place, so I’m keeping it in.
Funnily enough, I wrote about the debut album theme idea more than five years ago when a song from Sara Bareilles’ Little Voice popped up on Random Weekends. But then I discovered Bareilles had independently released a record called Careful Confessions three years earlier.
For the purposes of this week, therefore, I’m considering a major label debut eligible and giving a slot to Little Voice. As it turns out, Careful Confessions was mostly comprised of songs that showed up on Little Voice anyway, along with some live recordings.
This album, which my kids introduced me to back in 2009, is packed start to finish with smart, catchy piano pop. Every song here is fresh and inventive and announced Bareilles as an exciting new talent.
Few albums are as strong start to finish as this one — pick any of its 12 songs at random and you’re listening to a true banger. ‘Love Song’ and ‘Bottle it Up’ were the first two singles, but she could have just as easily chosen, say, ‘Love on the Rocks’ and ‘Many the Miles.’ Or ‘One Sweet Love’ and ‘Morningside.’ Maybe ‘Fairtytale’ and ‘Vegas?’ You get the point.
The caveat of Bareilles’ indie release is pertinent in illustrating why so many debut albums are so damn good. New artists have a lot of time to accumulate material, tinker with arrangements, workshop tunes during live performances, and amass a strong batch of songs for their first official album. A great debut might serve as a greatest hits, of sorts, of the performer’s early years.
That’s certainly the case with Little Voice, which Bareilles never managed to top despite a varied and successful career.
I’m not scared of you now
Or so I say
There’s no reason to run
Although I may
I’m not as sure as I seem
This much I know
What does it mean you leave and I follow
[Chorus]
I could try to forget what you do when i let you get
Through to me but then you do it over again
I could rage like a fire and you’d bring rain i desire
Til you get to me on my morningside
[Verse 2]
Keep my distance, I tried
No use
But no matter the miles
I’m back to you
[Chorus]
I could try to forget what you do when i let you get
Through to me but then you do it over again
I could rage like a fire and you’d bring rain i desire
Til you get to me on my morningside
[Verse 3]
Let me down, you say never
Baby blues, don’t you ever?
I’m used to being one with the misfortune to find
Afternoon’s run for cover and full moon’s just wonder
What it looks like here on my morningside
Look back, don’t you dare let me start to do that
I don’t care if the things that I have
Only make me afraid to lose
I need to let go
Need to want to keep letting you know
That we both have a reason to follow
Long as we let this lead i’m barely breathing
[Chorus]
I try to forget what you do to me but then you do it over again
I could rage like a fire and you’d bring rain
Til you get to me on my morningside
Let me down you say never baby blues don’t you ever
I’m used to being one with the misfortune to find
Afternoons run for cover and full moons just wonder
What it looks like here on my morningside
Meet Me In Montauk 
I’ve always enjoyed what I’ve heard from Sara Bareilles, including the wonderful songs from Waitress. I don’t think I’ve ever heard this album cover to cover, so I need to remedy that at some point.