Aftermath

“Aftermath” is Carter Altman at her best and most provocative. It’s a smart, tough-minded pop song with a clever arrangement, an instantly memorable chorus, and a probing performance by the star. Carter Altman sounds like a woman with unanswered questions ready to know the truth no matter the cost, and determined to steady herself after a period of upheaval. Everything about the track is uneasy, mysterious, seductive, dangerous, including the rim shots evocative of a smoky club, and the ghostly, echoed backing vocals, and the bass line that sniffs around the mix like a police dog.

“Aftermath” was produced by Grammy winner Jason Lehning , a record-maker who has lent his distinctive sound to tracks by adventurous artists like Bill Frisell, Alison Krauss, and Erasure. Lehning wrote the song with Jessica Carter Altman, and he adds a tasteful synthesizer to the track, too. They’ve fitted “Aftermath” with a full string section, but it’s never overwhelming. All things are perfectly balanced, all sounds are in their place, and everything is appointed to create a sonic environment for Carter Altman’s haunting storytelling to resonate.

In Colt Morton’s spooky clip for “Aftermath,” Carter Altman occupies that environment. While it’s still and beautiful inside her living room — one with full bookshelves and comfortable furniture — there’s a creeping sense of disturbance that hangs over the scene. The star is busy preparing for something to come, though it’s never clear whether she’s battering down the hatches against a coming threat, or departing for good. She also occupies a strange and unearthly zone out of time. While her apartment is modern and her fashions are current, the machines she interacts with are old. Emergency warnings come through a CRT television, she reaches out to the rest of the world through a landline and carries a vintage transistor radio. It’s all a reminder that anxiety and threats have always been with them.