Hear Vanessa Carlton’s New Single, “The Only Way To Love”
Two months ago, Vanessa Carlton shared “Future Pain,” the first single from her forthcoming album, Love Is An Art, due out on March 27th. Today, fans can hear its second single, “The Only Way To Love,” as well as see the album’s artwork and tracklisting, pre-order the record, and get ready for Vanessa’s supporting tour.
First things first: a new song. “The Only Way To Love” starts instantly, Vanessa’s echoing voice crooning softly over buzzing guitar. For some fans, it may immediately sound familiar. Indeed, Vanessa shared a clip of the song a while back before we even knew what it was. Drums come in on the pre-chorus, foreshadowing what’s coming next. The chorus amplifies into a bigger sound, pounding drums strengthening Vanessa’s message. As with “Future Pain,” “The Only Way To Love” offers that big punch we haven’t heard much since Heroes & Thieves. It sounds different now – more acoustic and introspective, like her last two records – but still powerful.
Listen to “The Only Way To Love” below:
You can stream or download “The Only Way To Love” from all the main music providers here. Along with “Future Pain,” it will appear on Vanessa’s upcoming album, Love Is An Art, out March 27th. Pre-order the album here now.
About the new record, Vanessa shared:
This album is so much about going after something that is wild in nature. The complexity of energies between us all. The push and the pull. Falling in love, whether it be romantic, parent/child, family, or a friendship is like holding on to the tail of a tiger. We are all on this journey together, navigating the stars.
Love Is An Art Tracklisting
Last month, we reported on 12 new Vanessa Carlton songs that had registered online. It turns out, all 12 of those songs will appear on the new album. Vanessa just shared the tracklisting – and album cover – for Love Is An Art:
- I Can’t Stay The Same
- Companion Star
- I Know You Don’t Mean It
- Die Dinosaur
- Love Is An Art
- Future Pain
- Back To Life
- Patience
- The Only Way To Love
- Salesman
- Miner’s Canary
- Break To Save [Bonus Track]
In a new interview with Blueberry Hill, we get to hear a bit more about some of the songs. “Die, Dinosaur” was written after the shootings in Parkland, Florida and is about “the children who fill the world with love and grace while politicians fill their pockets.” “Miner’s Canary” is a confessional song about “reckoning with toxic relationships.” Meanwhile, “Companion Star” focuses on relationships that last forever. “I Can’t Stay the Same,” on the other hand, describes “the relationship with the person staring back at us in the mirror, each and every morning.”
In addition to the two new singles, fans can already get a taste of two other songs. Last May, when Vanessa announced that Love Is An Art was mastered and ready for release, she also shared snippets of the upcoming title track and “Patience.” Vanessa first played “Love Is An Art” in March 2017. Fans may also remember “Patience”; Vanessa uploaded a 1-minute recording of the song to SoundCloud way back in 2012. It’s exciting that we finally get to hear a proper recording of the song!
The songs were partially inspired by philosopher Erich Fromm’s 1956 book, The Art of Loving. Vanessa co-wrote all the songs with singer-songwriter Tristen. Dave Fridmann served as producer on the album.
Album Cover Art
The cover art for Love Is An Art, done by Jo Ratcliffe, features a gloved hand catching a tiger by his tail. Reminds you of that phrase, right? But according to the new Blueberry Hill interview, it’s actually:
about going after something bigger than you, more powerful than you, something that you’ll never be able to really control: but you grab it anyway. Something like love. That’s the spirit of Love Is An Art – connections aren’t easy to make, and sometimes we fail. But it’s always worth trying. As Carlton sings on “Die, Dinosaur,” the hope comes when there’s nothing left to lose.
You can pre-order Love Is An Art now.
New Tour: Leg One
In support of the new album, Vanessa is about to go on tour. And extra exciting news: This will be the first time in a decade that she tours and performs with a full band. Yes, we’ll finally get to hear the songs as big as ever this tour!
The tour will kick off on April 2nd in St. Louis and end on April 25th in Nashville. Leg one stays and the east side of the US and Canada, but everyone else, don’t worry: Leg two will be announced soon.
Check out the tour announcement below:
Revisiting Vanessa’s Work
Vanessa Carlton’s last album, Liberman, came out in fall 2015. It launched stunning singles like “Blue Pool,”“Operator,” “House Of Seven Swords,” and “Nothing Where Something Used To Be.” Since then, Vanessa also released a few special albums and EPs. We got Liberman Live in 2016, followed by the Earlier Things Live EP in 2017. Then in 2018, Vanessa released six covers; you can now get them all in one package on vinyl.
Last year, Vanessa Carlton also moved into exciting new territory: Broadway! From June 27th through September 1st, Vanessa played Carole King in the Broadway musical, Beautiful – The Carole King Musical. Will musical theater continue to play a role in Vanessa’s future or influence her own music?
Love Is An Art is due out on March 27th. Get excited for the 12 new songs we now know about, and enjoy both “The Only Way To Love” and “Future Pain” in the meantime. Catch up on all we know about it so far here. As always, keep checking back here for all the latest Vanessa Carlton music news.
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