Charlotte Cornfield (born 1988 or 1989) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She has released four albums: ''Two Horses'' (2011), ''Future Snowbird'' (2016), ''The Shape of Your Name'' (2019) and ''Highs in the Minuses'' (2021).

Early life

Cornfield was born in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Ontario to an

Israeli Jewish Israeli Jews or Jewish Israelis ( he, יהודים ישראלים, translit=Yehudim Yisraelim) are Israeli citizens and nationals who are Jewish through either their Jewish ethnicity and/or their adherence to Judaism. The term also include ...

father, a classical musician and

radio producer A radio producer oversees the making of a radio show. The job title covers several different job descriptions: *Content producers or executive producers oversee and orchestrate a radio show or feature. The content producer might organize music choi ...

, and a mother from Toronto who worked as an

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

, and grew up in

Ossington Ossington is a village in the county of Nottinghamshire, England 7 miles north of Newark-on-Trent. It is in the civil parish of Ossington, but for census purposes its population count is included with the civil parishes of Ompton and Laxton a ...

and

Davenport, Toronto Davenport is a neighbourhood northwest of downtown in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is north of the Canadian Pacific Railway tracks and Dupont Avenue and south of Davenport Road and the ridge that is the former Lake Iroquois coastline. Its eastern b ...

. She wrote songs and played piano, drums and

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

as a child, and was in several bands as a teenager. She began to pursue music as a solo artist after moving to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, Quebec, where she studied

jazz drumming Jazz drumming is the art of playing percussion (predominantly the drum kit, which includes a variety of drums and cymbals) in jazz styles ranging from 1910s-style Dixieland jazz to 1970s-era jazz fusion and 1980s-era Latin jazz. The techniques an ...

Concordia University Concordia University ( French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the t ...

, in 2006.

Career

Cornfield remained in Montreal for around six years, and later lived in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York City, for two years. While living in Montreal she began performing music live. As of 2010, Cornfield also played drums in the band Bent by Elephants and the

jazz quartet In music, a quartet or quartette (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers; or a musical composition for four voices and instruments. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations ...

Takk. As of 2017, her touring band comprises Bramwell Park, Craig Schram, and Stephen Tchir of

The Provincial Archive The Provincial Archive are a Canadian indie band. Their releases have spanned genres from indie folk

. As of 2021, Cornfield is based in Toronto. Her music has been compared to the work of The Band,

Courtney Barnett Courtney Melba Barnett (born 3 November 1987) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and musician. Known for her deadpan singing style and witty, rambling lyrics, she attracted attention with the release of her debut EP ''I've Got a Friend Calle ...

Big Thief Big Thief is an American indie rock band with folk roots based in Brooklyn, New York. Its members are Adrianne Lenker (guitar, vocals), Buck Meek (guitar, backing vocals), Max Oleartchik (bass), and James Krivchenia (drums). The band's debut ...

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

Jason Molina Jason Andrew Molina (December 30, 1973 – March 16, 2013) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. Raised in northern Ohio, he came to prominence performing and recording as Songs: Ohia, both in solo projects and with a rotating cast of ...

Randy Newman Randall Stuart Newman (born November 28, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist known for his Southern American English, Southern-accented singing style, early Americana (music), Americana-influenced songs (often ...

Angel Olsen Angel Olsen (born Angelina Maria Carroll; January 22, 1987) is an American singer-songwriter and musician from St. Louis, Missouri who lives in Asheville, North Carolina. To date, Olsen has released six studio albums: ''Half Way Home'' (2012), ...

Elliott Smith Steven Paul Smith (August 6, 1969 – October 21, 2003), known professionally as Elliott Smith, was an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and lived much of hi ...

Sharon Van Etten Sharon Katharine Van Etten (born February 26, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter. She has released six studio albums, the latest of which is '' We've Been Going About This All Wrong'' (2022). Early life Van Etten was born in Belleville, N ...

Townes Van Zandt John Townes Van Zandt (March 7, 1944 – January 1, 1997) was an American singer-songwriter.

, and

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...

. She has named

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

Karen Dalton Karen may refer to: * Karen (name), a given name and surname * Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors People * Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand ** Karen languages or Karenic la ...

Stephin Merritt Stephin Raymond Merritt (born February 9, 1965) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the songwriter and principal singer of the bands the Magnetic Fields, the Gothic Archies, and Future Bible Heroes. He is ...

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell ( Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her sta ...

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...

, Arthur Russell,

, Van Etten,

Elyse Weinberg Elyse J. Weinberg (October 25, 1945 – February 20, 2020) was a Canadian-American singer-songwriter. In later life she used the name Cori Bishop. Biography Weinberg was born in Chatham, Ontario, Canada. She and her family moved to Montreal w ...

Gillian Welch Gillian Howard Welch (; born October 2, 1967) is an American singer-songwriter. She performs with her musical partner, guitarist David Rawlings. Their sparse and dark musical style, which combines elements of Appalachian music, bluegrass, countr ...

Yo La Tengo Yo La Tengo (YLT; Spanish for "I have her") is an American indie rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan (guitars, piano, vocals), Georgia Hubley (drums, piano, vocals), and James McNew ...

and Young as influences.

''It's Like That Here'' (2008)

Cornfield's debut EP, ''It's Like That Here'', was released in 2008.

''Collage Light'' (2009)

Cornfield's EP ''Collage Light'' was released in 2009. She cites

Jeff Buckley Jeffrey Scott Buckley (November 17, 1966 – May 29, 1997), raised as Scott Moorhead, was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. After a decade as a session guitarist in Los Angeles, Buckley amassed a following in the early 1990s by ...

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

and

as influences, and has said the EP deals with themes of "people coming and going and drifting apart". Reviewing the EP in ''

Hour An hour (symbol: h; also abbreviated hr) is a unit of time conventionally reckoned as of a day and scientifically reckoned between 3,599 and 3,601 seconds, depending on the speed of Earth's rotation. There are 60 minutes in an hour, and 24 ho ...

'', Dave Jaffer wrote that "Cornfield is destined for good-to-great things, and new EP Collage Light is a harbinger of that."

''Two Horses'' (2011)

Cornfield's debut album ''Two Horses'' was released in October 2011. The album was recorded over a four-month period and features Cornfield on guitar, bass guitar, drums and piano as well as vocals. The critic

Bob Mersereau Bob Ellis Mersereau is a Canadian arts journalist.Rockingham, Graham �"Randy Bachman: lord of the song"''The Spec'' He is a music columnist and longtime arts reporter for CBC Television in New Brunswick.Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

praised the album as "a strong collection of songwriter tunes backing by a solid rock groove", and wrote "there's a definite spark about" Cornfield.

''Future Snowbird'' (2016)

Cornfield's second album ''Future Snowbird'' was released in March 2016 through Consonant Records. The album was

recorded live ''Recorded Live'' is the third live album by British blues rock musicians Ten Years After, which was released as a double LP in 1973. This album, containing no overdubs or additives, was recorded over four nights in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, F ...

at Rooster Studios in

, Ontario, was produced by

Don Kerr Don Kerr is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He is the drummer, lead singer and front man of Toronto band, Communism. He plays in Ron Sexsmith's band,Ought ''Ought'' may refer to: *One of the English modal verbs *One of the names for the number 0 in English *Ought (band), a Montreal post-punk band on the Canadian Constellation Records See also *Is–ought problem *Categorical imperative The cate ...

and Johnny Spence of

Tegan and Sara Tegan and Sara () are a Canadian indie pop duo formed in 1998 in Calgary, Alberta. The band is led by identical twin sisters Tegan Rain Quin and Sara Keirsten Quin (born September 19, 1980). Both musicians are songwriters and multi-instrumental ...

. Cornfield said of the album: "I think the sound of the record is more upfront than ''Two Horses''. It's got a kind of raw quality." The album's lyrics were inspired by Cornfield's time spent living in

, New York City. Music videos were released for "Big Volcano, Small Town" and "Time Bomb". The writer Sean Michaels praised "Mercury", writing that "Her songwriting is ravenous. Even here, in uneasy happiness, ornfieldsounds like she will wolf down her life as fast as she is able. The windfalls, the crises, the concerts, the chance encounters – she'll sprint through them all, collecting burs." Michaels also named "Mercury" as one of his favourite songs of 2016. Sarah Greene, reviewing ''Future Snowbird'' for ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'', wrote that Cornfield "usually opts for unlikely, slightly awkward rhymes and metaphors, her oddball lyrical choices walking the line between heartfelt and goofy but always quotable, with songs often landing in delightfully unexpected places" and concluded that "Kerr got some lovely organic performances out of Cornfield and the band, who sound like they lived in the songs a while before they recorded." Liam Prost of '' BeatRoute Magazine'' wrote that ''Future Snowbird'' was "substantially more listener friendly" than ''Two Horses'', but argued that "her narratives just don't land nearly as hard as she proves herself capable of on her older cuts".

''The Shape of Your Name'' (2019)

''The Shape of Your Name'' was released on April 5, 2019, through Next Door Music, an imprint of

Outside Music Outside Music is a Canadian record label and distributor founded by Lloyd Nishimura in 2001. In 2007, it expanded to include an artist management division which includes Jill Barber, Matthew Barber, Aidan Knight, Justin Rutledge as management ...

. The album features collaborations with

Kevin Drew Kevin Drew (born September 9, 1976) is a Canadian musician and songwriter who, together with Brendan Canning, founded the expansive Toronto baroque-pop collective Broken Social Scene. He was also part of the lesser-known KC Accidental, which con ...

Brendan Canning Brendan may refer to: People * Saint Brendan the Navigator (c. 484 – c. 577) was an Irish monastic saint. * Saint Brendan of Birr (died 573), Abbot of Birr in Co. Offaly, contemporaneous with the above * Brendan (given name), a masculine given na ...

and

Charles Spearin Charles Spearin is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist from Toronto, Ontario. He is primarily known as a founding member of indie rock bands Do Make Say Think and Broken Social Scene. Career As a teen, Spearin studied at Etobicoke School of the A ...

Broken Social Scene Broken Social Scene is a Canadians, Canadian indie rock band, a musical collective including as few as six and as many as nineteen members, formed by Kevin Drew (vocals, guitar) and Brendan Canning (vocals, bass) in 1999. Alongside Drew and Cannin ...

Shawn Everett Shawn Everett (born July 6, 1982) is a Canadian music engineer and producer best known for his work with Alabama Shakes, Kacey Musgraves, The War on Drugs, The Killers, and Julian Casablancas. Everett has won six Grammy Awards. Early life Ever ...

and

Leif Vollebekk Leif Vollebekk is a Canadian indie folk singer-songwriter, whose 2017 album ''Twin Solitude'' was a shortlisted finalist for the 2017 Polaris Music Prize Reviewing ''The Shape of Your Name'' for ''Exclaim!'', Kaitlin Ruether described Cornfield's songwriting as "biting, lucid and nourished." Ruether praised "Storm Clouds", "Andrew" and "Up the Hill" for their "electricity and emotion", and concluded "''The Shape of Your Name'' has an

elegiac The adjective ''elegiac'' has two possible meanings. First, it can refer to something of, relating to, or involving, an elegy or something that expresses similar mournfulness or sorrow. Second, it can refer more specifically to poetry composed in ...

quality to it: there is plenty of mourning within these songs, but there are also rays of a bright future." Writing in ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'', Joshua Copperman noted that the album focuses "on the patience and reflection required for relationships with others", praised Cornfield's delivery and songwriting as "authentically conversational", and concluded that the album "benefits from not trying to be a masterpiece. Instead, it stays small and approachable, a reward reserved for those paying attention." ''The Shape of Your Name'' was longlisted for the 2019

Polaris Music Prize The Polaris Music Prize is a music award annually given to the best full-length Canadian album based on artistic merit, regardless of genre, sales, or record label. The award was established in 2006 with a $20,000 cash prize; the prize was incr ...

and named by ''Exclaim!'' as the fifth-best folk or country album of 2019.

''In My Corner'' (2020)

''In My Corner'', a four-track EP featuring two original songs alongside covers of

Lucinda Williams Lucinda Gayle Williams (born January 26, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and a solo guitarist. She recorded her first two albums: '' Ramblin' on My Mind'' (1979) and '' Happy Woman Blues'' (1980), in a traditional country and blues style ...

and

, was released in March 2020.

''Highs in the Minuses'' (2021)

Cornfield's fourth album, ''Highs in the Minuses'', was released in October 2021. It features drummer Liam O'Neill of Suuns and

Amy Millan Amy Millan (born December 3, 1973) is a Canadian indie rock singer and guitarist. She records and performs with the bands Stars and Broken Social Scene as well as having a successful solo career. Her second solo album, '' Masters of the Burial'' ...

and

Stars A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night, but their immense distances from Earth ma ...

. Cornfield began work on the album during a residency at the

Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, formerly known as The Banff Centre (and previously The Banff Centre for Continuing Education), located in Banff, Alberta, was established in 1933 as the Banff School of Drama. It was granted full autonomy as ...

, which ended early due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, and completed it after returning home to Montreal. A music video, inspired by

Wes Anderson Wesley Wales Anderson (born May 1, 1969) is an American filmmaker. His films are known for their eccentricity and unique visual and narrative styles. They often contain themes of grief, loss of innocence, and dysfunctional families. Cited by so ...

's film ''

Bottle Rocket ''Bottle Rocket'' is a 1996 American crime comedy film directed by Wes Anderson in his feature film directorial debut. The film is written by Anderson and Owen Wilson and is based on Anderson's 1994 short film of the same name. ''Bottle Rocket' ...

'', was released for "Partner in Crime". Reviewing the album in ''Exclaim!'', Laura Stanley described it as an examination of "the dizzyingly sweet moments that happen even when things feel unbearably bad" and as musically "both playful and raw-sounding."

Other work

Cornfield features on

Joel Plaskett William Joel MacDonald Plaskett (born April 18, 1975) is a Canadian rock musician and songwriter based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was a member of Halifax alternative rock band Thrush Hermit in the 1990s. Plaskett performs in a number of genres ...

's 2020 album ''44''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cornfield, Charlotte Living people Musicians from Toronto Canadian women singer-songwriters Canadian folk rock musicians Concordia University alumni 21st-century Canadian women singers 1980s births Canadian folk singer-songwriters Canadian people of Israeli descent