Arienne Hearts Charlie, the impressively accurate name of jazz duo and married couple Arienne and Charlie, who released their newest album The Greatest Show on September 17th. Along with their career as musicians, both Arienne and Charlie are mental health professionals, and believe in the healing power of music. Though they grew up not far from each other, they didn’t first meet until Charlie spoke in Arienne’s grad school class on the topic of prison reform. They say it was love at first sight.
You can hear how powerful their love is in a lot of Arienne Hearts Charlie’s original songs. Whether dealing with emotional intimacy or physical intimacy all of them come across as incredibly passionate. Beyond the lyrics, Charlie manages to capture just as much energy in his jazz stylings on the guitar, even as the two artists duet together. Arienne and Charlie cite a variety of musicians and styles as their inspiration, from Motown to Amy Winehouse. Including original works and covers, The Greatest Show, contains a lot of range.
The album opens up with the single “Voyeur”, a sensual love song and duet between the two artists. Charlie takes a light touch on the guitar and vocals in the intro, opening up into the chorus which is greeted by trumpets and Arienne’s vocals in the second verse. The lyrics are surprisingly touching, showing a relationship full of passion and understanding. Arienne and Charlie seem to bring both their own love, and their knowledge as relationship therapists to the lyrics in their music.
Listen to Arienna hearts Charlie’s latest single “Loving Day” below
“Loving Day”, their most recent single, carries as much love as the previous song, but takes it in a new direction and a very purposeful one. The song takes on the topic of Arienne and Charlie’s experiences as an inter-racial couple living in the deep south. The song’s title is a reference to Loving v. Virginia, the supreme court case which legalized interracial marriage in the US. The powerful joy in Arienne Hearts Charlie’s music clashes against the themes of racism and discrimination also found in the lyrics, and makes the impact all the more powerful.
“Bare” another recent single seems to capture more of a dialogue, in its style of duet. The lyrics capture the journey of two people charting a course through intimacy, from a purely physical relationship to opening up more and connecting. They are laid bare for each other, both literally and figuratively. The song captures their journey, and the choices they make in order to grow closer to each other.
A final single of the album “No One Knows” separates itself from the crowd with a more driving and rock influenced sound. Featuring vocals by Arienne capturing a secretive almost spy thriller like love affair and some fabulous guitar playing including a solo from Charlie. All of Arienne Hearts Charlie’s songs are catchy and easy to groove along to but this one in particular has a driving back beat feel that just makes you want to get up and dance, perhaps grab a partner to swing with.
It’s genuinely hard to capture how much of a joy Arienne Hearts Charlie is to listen to. It’s something you have to hear. They truly seem to capture their love for one another in every layer of their music. Do yourself a favor, catch some of that joy and healing and listen to The Greatest Show.