A Review of Carlotta Schmidt & Her Sophomore Album - ‘Overthinker’
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
The title of Carlotta Schmidt’s sophomore album is both the most honest thing an artist can put on a record cover and the most universally relatable.
Overthinker: ten tracks, entirely self-written, entirely self-produced, composed on a 1979 Guild D55 acoustic guitar on a bedroom floor, and shaped by a period of life that contained more significant personal change than most people experience across a decade. Coming out. Devastating loss. Working with heroes. All of it swirling, all of it demanding to be made into music.
The New Jersey-based singer, songwriter and producer has built her reputation across years of performances at iconic venues including The Stone Pony and The Bitter End, alongside shared stages with Brandi Carlile and Grammy-nominated jazz trumpeter Jon Faddis. She created the women-led Fourth Wave Fest in 2024, raising thousands for a New Jersey nonprofit supporting survivors of domestic violence, and received the Emerging Artist Grant from the Jersey Shore Jazz and Blues Foundation in 2025. The credibility is real, earned and well-documented.
But Overthinker is where all of that experience arrives at its most personal and its most ambitious. The jazz-inspired acoustic rock at the album’s foundation is enriched by contributions from cellist Dave Eggar, whose credits include Coldplay and Lady Gaga, and violinist Lyris Hung, who has performed with Beyoncé and the Indigo Girls. The string work throughout adds emotional texture that the already moving compositions did not strictly need but are enormously better for having.
‘Let Me Be Me’ with its sixty-seven-participant music video has become the fan favourite it deserves to be. ‘I Just Want To Talk To You’, the tribute to Schmidt’s late mentor, is the one that stays with you longest. A deeply affecting and beautifully crafted record from an artist at the top of her game.
Comments