Melissa McClelland - Herself, Her Music

From the beginning, singer/songwriter Melissa McClelland makes it clear; her self titled CD, Melissa McClelland, is just that: truly herself. What stuck me first about this CD, before even listening, was the cover photo of McClelland. A straight forward, somber yet inviting, pieced together picture of the artist, which greeted me, as if asking me to sit down inside her head for a while. No glossy or sexual image. No rock star edge. This artist makes a statement that she is completely her, and her music further conveys this. Acoustic talent, poetic lyrics, a few funky beats, individualism and emotion are tightly packaged into McClelland’s effort.

On Past Lives, McClelland takes an Indigo Girls flavor, utilizing acoustic guitar strums and her own well trained, realistic voice to convey her careful lyrics. She makes it obvious she isn’t afraid of stripping down the music and baring her soul through her voice. What If, a simple guitar backed accord of confused love, feels as though it is derived directly from McClelland’s diary. In lamenting personal fears, “I’m too scared to be brave for you/courage is not to be thought through/and if I knew what to do/I wouldn’t keep asking you,” she illustrates she is not afraid to share what appears to be real life accounts with her audience. “Silence” keeps along this vein with pure acoustic guitar and intimate words.

McClelland masters the art of making music accompany stream of consciousness oration on the beautifully crafted Whisper. Building subtly at first, the song progresses steadily with passion, increased instrumentation, and lyrical delivery, which flow into a nakedly clear chorus: “and I whisper, I whisper your name”. Yesterday follows a funky drum/bass flow, complete with darker lyrics accompanying well-metered, poetic delivery and electric guitar riffs. Garden of Eden runs in a similar saucy path: “Tell me after you have finished swallowing your pride/cause every now and then you get a glimmer in you eye/and you reach for me like I’m built to satisfy”.

In a unique move, McClelland dedicates two tracks to each part of her song I’m Leaving You. Part one is a decidedly a more mellow and melancholy reflection of love gone wrong, (“and you wait for the last chance to say/that love is a grave/and you’re six feet under looking up at my face”). Part two takes a more self-empowered turn on the seemingly the same event (“so you must be strong/cause baby you know that I’m moving on”). True to life, these two pieces reflect the ups and downs and inner workings of a break-up.

To close the CD is the only song on the disc which McClelland did not actually write herself. She does great justice, however, to Dreaming Awake, a song written by Anne Alma, with her poignant voice relaying the introspective, and pleading lyrics: “laying here waiting for morning to break/I’m tired of dreaming awake.”

Melissa McClelland has done a pure job offering herself and her music. She comes direct with her craft. A girl with a pen, a guitar, a heart, and experience lends herself to her audience via music.