BWW Album Review: There is Nothing Pathetic about Analise Scarpaci's PATHETIC LITTLE DREAMER

While listening to Analise Scarpaci's new album PATHETIC LITTLE DREAMER, it is difficult to not compare her work as a singer-songwriter to the great woman singer-songwriters that have come before. There will come a day when Analise's name will be on the list of great woman singer-songwriters... but the gender qualifier is unnecessary because Analise Scarpaci will be considered a great singer-songwriter, period. Female, male, non-binary, fluid, it doesn't matter: Analise Scarpaci will come to be known as a great singer-songwriter, based, solely, on the merit of her artwork. The evidence is all in the seven-song, twenty-six-minute album, one so enjoyable that it is destined to become one of the "Most Played" on your device.

Pathetic Little Dreamer was Analise Scarpaci's pandemic project and the music world is better for it, especially since the industrious Broadway Records label picked it up for distribution, with artist Robbie Rozelle turning Matt Murphy's gorgeous photos and Scarpaci's liner notes into a generous CD booklet, one that will come in handy, in the name of artistic exploration and enjoyment. Each of the seven songs stand on their own as creations of musical storytelling but there are times when it is possible to get swept up by Scarpaci's pristine vocals and earworm melodies, and the poetry of the lyrics may get momentarily lost. It is a treat to read Analise's thoughts on each composition, then follow along with the booklet, examining sentences and thoughts that may gain prominence when seen, rather than heard, especially on numbers with particularly thoughtful lyrics like "Charlie." There will, in fact, be times when the listener would be advised to just hit 'play' and go to town, and others when a cup of tea and that CD booklet are a great way to spend a half-hour in musical meditation - it just depends on the mood one is in. Introspection will be served by Scarpaci's words, and jubilation, by the music.

There is every chance that the title tune will get under your skin (as it has with this writer, who has sung no other song for two weeks), with its groove and emotional performances by studio musicians clearly invested in the story Scarpaci is telling. Meanwhile, the radio ready "I Don't Write Love Songs" is perfect for a Mandatory Dance Break anytime you feel like celebrating life, love, or the light coming in the window. Light is rather a prominent vibe throughout the album, as the musical genres meld and blend from one to another, based on Scarpaci's musical mission statement and the influences that have informed that mission as, both, singer and songwriter. Observe the singer's ability to contain her vocal performance on "Drive" in order to retain the wistful tenderness of the lyric, or the imperative and important straight-up empowerment that puts "My Little Voice" in the storytelling pocket - a highlight on an album brimming over with excellence.

Analise Scarpaci is one of the cast members of the Broadway musical Mrs. Doubtfire - she plays Daniel and Miranda Hillard's teenage daughter. She is not, though, a teenager, something that may be difficult to believe when looking at the album photos. It is true that Analise Scarpaci is young... but she's not a child, and it shows in the profundities found in her songwriting. This is a woman who may not (yet) have experienced some of the life-lessons and rites of passage the rest of us have, but she has had her own life journey, and that which she has learned along the way has, thankfully, been used to give birth to these seven songs, exquisitely produced and mixed by Michael J. Mortiz jr., the favorite of this writer being the raw rock & roll-infused "Seventh Stage of Grief" - a composition in which the defiance of the lyrics is brought out by the determination in the music in a way that will resonate with every person who has felt small, who has felt invisible, who has felt the sting of having crimes committed against them, and who has emerged from the darkness, into the light. The song is the anchor of the album, an album filled with life-affirming proof-positive that, even in times as dark as a global pandemic, something valuable can occur, especially through art and that catalytic process through which artists take the moments of their lives, the emotions in their being, and apply them to their craft.

Singer-songwriter Analise Scarpaci is just such an artist and Pathetic Little Dreamer is one of those valuable moments - profound, pretty, and pleasant, but not at all pathetic.

"Pathetic Little Dreamer" is produced and mixed by Michael J Moritz Jr. Musicians include Adam DeAscentis on bass, Jakob Reinhardt on guitar, Tom Jorgenson on drums, and Damon Grant on percussion. Michael J Moritz Jr serves as music director as well as piano and synths. The album is engineered by Jakob Reinhardt.

Analise Scarpaci PATHETIC LITTLE DREAMER is a 2021 release distributed by the Broadway Records label. It is available on all streaming platforms and at the Broadway Records website HERE. Signed copies will, soon, be available.

Analise Scarpaci has a website HERE.

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