Archive for the ‘Juliette Commagere’ Category
Juliette Commagere – Queens Die Proudly Review
Juliette Commagere was introduced to me awhile back and was on the backburner in terms of needing to review her album. She was/is the vocalist/keytarist for the LA band Hello Stranger.
I was quite impressed on initial listens with both her talent and the production value on “Queens Die Proudly”.
I find that there are tons of females who have a great voice in music, I have to roll my eyes when comparisons are drawn to vocal style or to say “X is better then Y”. For singer-songwriters, to be a Feist or a Cat Power it takes the complete package from stunning vocals, to superb song writing and creativity to allow them to stand out.
There are many artists who encompass 2 out of 3 criteria and Juliette Commagere has the creativity and amazing vocals. I found myself enjoying this record for the production values, a lot of the songs are very well done with different sounds, different introductions allowing Commagere to show off her vocal talent. I really believe there is no reason for her to be popular, from the countless of singer-songwriters that I see, Commagere does stand out… to an extent.
My only gripe with “Queens Die Proudly” is with the weak song writing. I feel like the entire package is there for this album to excel on a multitude of levels but an “it” feeling. Part of that “it” feeling is that an emotional feeling, she plays a role of a Queen on the opening tracks “Hearts” saying that she likes her cars “fast and pretty”. I think you can tell she has a special talent the way she sings this but vocal talent only gets you so far. There are just bits and pieces of lyrics she should not be singing in one breath. An example I would point to is “Everything I Love” the introduction is wonderful but the writing drags along and just feels contrived. I still like the song but if she’s ever going to get over the “hump” it starts with better writing and using her talents more appropriately.
Before going on a broken record and overly insulting Juliette Commagere for no reason. She’s still a refreshing talent and I personally like her but I could like her more. She’s still not far ahead of the pack though she could be. I also don’t want to assume she’s a bad song writing, but it’s ultimately a glaring weakness that bothered me.
It’s still a good album though, borderline great as the production values across the board challenge the likes of Bjorn Yttling’s work on Lykke Li’s Youth Novels.
Rating: 3.9 out of 5
Definitely an album worth checking out despite my review style.
Everything I Love by Juliette Commagere
Queens Die Proudly by Juliette Commagere
