Melissa McClelland - Victoria Day (Silver Series - Remastered 2025) (2025) Hi Res

Melissa McClelland's music is rootsy with touches of blues, jazz, country, and folk-rock. Husband Luke Doucet (a guitarisit who played in Sarah McLachlan's touring band), produced this set and for McClelland's third solo outing, he brings the same attention to detail to his wife's work that he brings to his own studio efforts. All of McClelland's tunes have compelling melodies and a considerable lyrical flair. She opens the album with the laid-back rockabilly of "A Girl Can Dream," which, with its loping beat and Doucet's restrained solo, calls to mind the early Elvis Presley staple "Tryin' to Get to You." "God Loves Me" is a sad blues that tells the story of a backwoods party girl who flirts with disaster every time she picks up a man; McClelland's understated vocal, an ominous guitar solo from Doucet, and sustained chords from Steve O'Connor's big Hammond B-3 give the tune a moody feel. "Victoria Day (May Flowers)" is a jaunty ragtime tune about living beyond one's means, with McClelland's lively vocal laughing at the thought of the money running out. Doucet drops a swinging, jazzy, Texas-flavored solo while the horn section blares with abandon. With players gathered from the couple's touring bands, Doucet has no trouble getting a clean, precise sound that lets each tune shine and keeps the focus where it belongs, on McClelland's luminous vocals.