‘Anything’
is the title track from Melissa and
More’s EP which also appears on their CD ‘Baby’. Originally from Southampton, the act’s singer/songwriter, Melissa Sullivan’s music covers a huge
variety of genres including Rock, Folk, Pop, Jazz and Country. Melissa plays
the piano and has been playing the flute for seven years and reached Grade 8
standard with distinction when she was just 14-years-old. After fronting and
writing for a number of bands, in 2004 Melissa started performing alongside Dave Wilkes, with her performing vocals,
flute and keyboards and Dave taking on both electric and acoustic guitars. In
2011 the band matured into a five-piece act and currently have three
self-released EPs along with a live recorded album, and a new album on its way
in the next few months!
The track
certainly lives up to the repertoire Melissa
and More seem to have formed for themselves; making use of every genre they
know. Although this makes them rather unique, it also makes them hard to place
or imagine a firm fanbase for. The rapid tempo and bright vocals are colourful
but a little emotionally-lacking. It almost appears as if the band aspires to
come across as alternative, which they carry out very well, but have pushed
composing poignant or passionate music to one side.
However, ‘Anything’ is very well produced and
really highlights Melissa Sullivan’s
great vocal range and individual style, which actually conceals the
instrumentation to come across as simply background noise and a swift enough
tempo to keep up with her rapid vocals. But it is obvious that there is a lot of
thought behind how the vocals come across. The track is very flamboyant and
expressive but is certainly not something a listener can really relate to on a
personal level.
With a
truly distinctive vocal performance that drowns out the other instruments
somewhat, ‘Anything’ is a great
example of how intriguing unusual vocal styles can be but also how much they
can hinder the other elements of a track. Although Melissa and More claim to blend just about very genre under the
sun, in actual fact the track is difficult to place in any style.
1/5
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