Character (Rachael Sage album)

Character is the fourteenth studio album by singer-songwriter Rachael Sage, released on March 6, 2020.[2] Described as an "inspirational tribute to survivorship",[3] the album was written as Sage was recovering from endometrial cancer.[4]

Character
Studio album by
Rachael Sage
ReleasedMarch 6, 2020
GenreIndie folk, indie rock
Length48:59
LabelMPress Records
ProducerRachael Sage, Andy Zulla
Rachael Sage chronology
PseudoMyopia
(2018)		 Character
(2020)
Singles from Character
  1. "Bravery's On Fire"
    Released: October 4, 2019
  2. "Both Hands"
    Released: January 10, 2020
  3. "Character"
    Released: February 7, 2020
  4. "Blue Sky Days"
    Released: February 28, 2020
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Exclaim!7/10[1]

The first single from the album, "Bravery's On Fire", is lyrically a reflection inspired by her illness. All of the song's proceeds go towards women's cancer research.[5]

Production and release
Rachel Sage about the Character album
“I hope these songs honor just how resilient the human spirit can be, and remind us that sometimes ‘it’s ok to not be ok’.”

[6]

For this album, Sage was inspired by asking herself, "What comprises character?" On the album's cover art, she poses holding a mask next to her face.[7]

The album's songs reflect on themes such as compassion, gratitude, authenticity, optimism, mindfulness, forgiveness, vulnerability, and resilience, as well as issues surrounding codependence.[8][9]

The album was preceded by four singles: "Bravery's On Fire" in October 2019, a cover of Ani DiFranco's 1990 song "Both Hands" in January 2020, title track "Character" and "Blue Sky Days" in February 2020. In May 2020, Sage premiered a figure-skating-themed music video for "Blue Sky Days"[10] and in July the song entered Billboard's Mainstream Top 40 Indicator Chart.[11]

Character was released on digital platforms such as Spotify, on vinyl and as a 2-CD Deluxe version which comes as a hard cover book, similarly to Sage's 2018 album Myopia. Bonus tracks include acoustic versions of "Bravery's On Fire" and "Blue Sky Days". A shorter radio version of the title track, which on the album runs at over six-and-a-half minutes, is also available.

The 2-CD Deluxe book version also includes a wearable mask design by Sage herself.[12]

Tracklist

All songs written by Rachael Sage unless otherwise indicated.

  1. "Blue Sky Days" - 4:03
  2. "Bravery's On Fire" - 3:45
  3. "Both Hands" - 3:13 (written by Ani DiFranco)
  4. "Damaged" - 4:48
  5. "Ohio" - 3:30
  6. "Cave" - 4:03
  7. "When I Was Young" - 3:37
  8. "Open The Door" - 3:54
  9. "Character" - 6:38
  10. "Be The Same" - 3:09
  11. "Atmosphere" - 3:41
  12. "Catch The Light" - 4:38

Deluxe bonus tracks

13. "Blue Sky Days (Acoustic)" - 4:03
14. "Bravery's On Fire (Acoustic)" - 3:43

Personnel

Rachael Sage – producer, vocals, piano, guitar[13]

Andy Zulla – producer

Andy Mac – drums

Doug Yowell – drums

Ward Williams – cello

Dave Eggar – cello

Kelly Halloran – violin

James Mastro – guitar

Mikhail Pivovarov – recording

gollark: I say the limit should be infinite.#
gollark: PotatOS defines a ton of them in a way which technically counts as them being in one function/
gollark: Or at least a decent amount of the pad.
gollark: You would also have to ship the one time pad with it or it's literally impossible.
gollark: Although that wasn't really very hard, just annoying to do.

References
  1. Doole, Kerry (18 March 2020). "Rachael Sage – Character". Exclaim!. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
  2. https://www.newswire.com/news/rachael-sage-releases-new-album-character-21108452
  3. https://mpressrecords.myshopify.com/collections/rachael-sage/products/character-cd-pre-order
  4. https://www.newswire.com/news/rachael-sage-releases-new-album-character-21108452
  5. http://rachaelsage.com/news_archive?page=news_item&NewsID=3765647638073&last_page=news_archive
  6. https://www.newswire.com/news/rachael-sage-releases-new-album-character-21108452
  7. https://www.newswire.com/news/rachael-sage-releases-new-album-character-21108452
  8. https://www.newswire.com/news/rachael-sage-releases-new-album-character-21108452
  9. B, Jae (25 June 2020). "Interview: Rachael Sage on Survival, Gratitude and Artistic Positivity". Pop Magazine. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  10. Frahm, Jonathan (18 May 2020). "Rachael Sage's "Blue Sky Days" Celebrates the Human Spirit (premiere)". PopMatters. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  11. https://web.archive.org/web/20200701193202/http://charts.bdsradio.com/bdsradiocharts/charts.aspx?formatid=1
  12. https://mpressrecords.myshopify.com/collections/rachael-sage/products/character-cd-pre-order
  13. https://www.newswire.com/news/rachael-sage-releases-new-album-character-21108452
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