Pearl Charles evokes future, past and present overlapping in “Smoke In The Limousine.” Her vocals echo ever so slightly with a touch of reverb in unconventional melodies. A simple guitar figure runs through the song paired with a minimal string arrangement to add a melancholic wistfulness to a song about how we spend our time and how easy it is to live with regret when we don’t live and act in the moment and how that can weigh us down with the memory of what we wish we’d done. To this point Charles sings “There’s a world over your shoulder/And each day you’re getting older/Don’t get left behind” as if to remind you that the weight of your own history is always going to be there but it’s best to do something now and not to let that legacy and habit keep you from being present and making the memories you’d prefer rather than sepia-tinged perceptions of “the good old days” when there are plenty more to be had that needn’t be beholden to where you’ve already been. Charles brings to the song a dream-like psychedelic sheen that conveys feelings of nostalgia with a yearning what’s yet to come which is particularly effective way to tap into the kind of Laurel Canyon cosmic folk that is a clear inspiration to Charles’ songwriting here. Listen to “Smoke In The Limousine” on Spotify and follow Pearl Charles at the links below.
Queen City Sounds and Art 
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