OFFICIAL: http://www.juliamcdonaldmusic.com/
Written
by Shannon Cowden, posted by blog admin
The
first release from nineteen year old Julia McDonald announces the arrival of a
formidable talent whose development seems in an almost unreal place for someone
so young. McDonald’s six songs on Gravity show finesse beyond her years and a
seemingly effortless ability to get underneath the skin of demanding songs that
explore rugged emotional terrain and never cheat listeners musically. The first
class production surrounding these songs makes the EP a seamless listening experience
and never pretties up the release’s poppier moments in such a way that tries
the audience’s patience. The narratives driving the songs in this collection
deal with complex but down to earth issues – the relationships between people
at a time in life when the durability of such unions is under near constant
assault. Music fans who listen to artists for entertainment and those who
listen for that and some illumination will be equally pleased by this release.
McDonald and her collaborators possess a well tuned ear for commercial pop
music, but they also strive to make a substantive statement with Gravity and
succeed in a significant way.
You
know you are in good hands from the first. The title song starts the EP off in
memorable fashion with a relatively spartan musical arrangement and solid,
uncluttered playing that gives McDonald’s voice ample room to shine. It does so
very brightly. She is the undisputable center of the song and weighs each line
of its lyric with a conscious intent that makes it a bracing experience to
hear. There’s a much more tangible pop song vibe driving the second track “Games”,
but McDonald never ventures too far from the same instrumental set up – she just
puts it to a much different use here. The drumming and percussion on Gravity is
one of the keys to its success and it makes this song an even more enjoyable
experience than what it might have been with more sedate, standard drumming
fare. “Pretty Committee” mixes up some of McDonald’s pop and singer/songwriter
influences into a fully entertaining and intimate work with another superb
vocal. The percussion is another high point for the performance and gives it an
interesting rhythm for McDonald to lay her vocals over.
“No
Good for Me” is a piece of high end pop art with a silky smooth musical
arrangement and an equally stylish McDonald vocal. The lyrics are particularly
brutal in the way that she pulls no punches depicting an unsatisfying relationship
and the song holds her first person point of view culpable for its failure.
Such challenging lyrics demand something to sweeten their intense emotions and
the music for this song is perfect fit for pulling that off. The synthesizer on
Gravity’s closing number “Simpler Things” gives the track a dark overtone while
the piano work running throughout leavens its darkness some. The powerfully
rhythmic percussion keeps things bubbling for the entirety of the song. This is
an extraordinarily memorable end for Gravity and promises much from McDonald’s
future releases.
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