Imagine Sheryl Crow with more bite, Jewel with a slightly country flavor: That’s Melanie Dekker in summary. Expecting another Triple A-formatted singer/songwriter, well-polished but probably no different than a number of Paula Cole clones, I have to admit by being pleasantly surprised by the rougher edges beneath the folksy pop of Revealed.

“Here I am again, wound-up, sulking, swimming/In all the crap that I’ve wrapped myself in,” Dekker laments on “Little Miracle.” Such tough-girl language is the antithesis of much of today’s Adult Contemporary staples. Yet “Little Miracle” is a fairly upbeat track; you almost don’t notice the bitterness at its core. The jangly “Haven’t Even Kissed U Yet” finds Dekker at her most cheerful, yet she still doesn’t end up with her man at the end.

The title of the album is perhaps referring to the confessional nature of the songs. In “I Said I,” the protagonist’s lover dumps her for an old flame. “I hope you feel bad like me,” Dekker curses him, carrying an emotional weight that is sugarcoated by the pleasant rootsy arrangements.

Musically, Dekker transcends the solo female genre by venturing beyond the AAA blueprint into country (”I Said I”), blues (”Enough Love”), and modern rock (”Somebody’s Baby”).

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 24th, 2007 at 7:10 pm and is filed under Kyrby Raine, The Kiosk (Pop/General Music), Music. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site. Your comments will be moderated but will appear as soon as humanly possible.