Colette McKendrick
>> Etheria
>> Alicorn Records
Ah myspace *smiles at screen*. Isn't it wonderful. Miss McKendrick seems to agree with me anyway, building her friends list to over a thousand for when she attacks them with her fabulous debut album, Etheria. I don't mean that she physically run after them with a CD, actually a vinyl would probably do more damage - but you know what I mean.
Come with me on this strange journey the young singer/songwriter sings in the intro song, and quite a journey it is as she turns all of the shit that life has thrown at her into a lovely 13 track album. Candytuft and Colour instantly show the talent on display in this record, with some fine individual moments from the various instruments, but the songs fail to grab the listener as much as they should from an opening few tracks of a debut album. Its not until Dark Horse, track 4 on the album, that we begin to see the diversity, emotion and raw talent on offer.
Find Me is the standout, and definitely single material. Colette's personal rollercoaster that she has persuaded us all to take a ride on (no rude jokes please..) is now in full swing and with the clever lyrics, beautiful harmonies and cracking melody line she has us all enjoying the twists and turns of the journey - even the people who were not open minded enough to join in in the first place.
Followed up with tracks like Voyeurism and Peter Pan's Biggest Fan, the happy wee girl in her pictures section of her myspace page is sneaking through and she has toes tapping everywhere. But Colette seems to be at her best when she really spills everything in her soul onto a track, and on High Mountain she does exactly that. Stripped right down to just the piano and voice, she lets the emotion take over, and the high note at 1.30 is one of those spine-tingling moments.
Reading an article about WWE wrestling the other day (don't ask...), some pro-wrestler guy was saying that his rather troubling profession has something for everyone. Well, that's kind of how to sum-up Etheria, with the album definitely set for the rock/pop section there are some classical influences throughout and even some jazz funk on This Girl. Wither or not the rest of the general public will give her a HELL-YEAH! or slam her candy-ass into the canvas, only time will tell.
The production may not be perfect, and sometimes the power and expression of her voice may be lost slightly compared to the live show, but its a marvelous first attempt from the Lick's latest local hero. Keep one eye on this one, or she'll myspace the hell out of ya!
>> Joe Sach
www.colettemckendrick.co.uk
www.myspace.com/colettemckendrick
