Sara Melson - Dirty Mind (2008)

Tracklist

01. Feel It Coming
02. Anywhere Anytime
03. Never Been Hurt (Live)
04. Hard Pressed
05. Dirty Mind
06. Turquoise Sky
07. Rise Up
08. Fall Down
09. Don't You Wanna Know
10. Happy Endings
11. Nuclear Sun
12. Birthday Prayer (Live)
13. Turquoise Sky (Alternate Version)

West Lafayette, Indiana’s Sara Melson adorns her folk-based material with enough studio color to stretch her sound in whatever direction she’s currently feeling. These songs began on an acoustic guitar or piano and could all be stripped down for a living room concert, but there’s a tug of war in Melson’s psyche and her melodies often reach for a sublime grandeur that ache for a larger theater. “Feel It Coming” opens the album with the sound of the sun breaking through the clouds, as cello and electric guitar expand Melson’s intimate universe. There’s a genuine optimism peeking out from Melson’s cautious observations and she clearly wants to believe in the “Happy Endings” she sings about. “Anywhere Anytime” powerwalks down the pavement with an insistent beat and a chorus that takes the rainy day ‘60s pop of Petula Clark and doses it with a shot of B-12. Most haunting is the slow piano crawl of “Never Been Hurt” that features a dark melody recalling Blue-era Joni Mitchell. “Fall Down” and “Nuclear Sun” indulge Melson’s studio experimentalism with futuristic keyboards and dissonant electronic noises accentuating her ambitious vocal choirs.

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