Rating: ***
Monique Angele is a Canadian singer-songwriter that's currently living in Australia. According to this bio I'm currently reading, her music blends classical and pop elements. Dope.
"Alive" is her third release and it dropped in August. She claims it's her best offering yet, and her other two records were critically acclaimed, so needless to say, I'm looking for this to blow my mind.
I'm not always into pop/classical hybrids, so I'm hoping this surprises me a bit. I'm not looking for Sarah Brightman 2.0 here.
I'm going to give this an objective listen in the hopes that Angele turns me around. BRB boo.
Watch the music video for "I Want a World" on Youtube here:
Gorgeous piano to start the first track "Pink Coloured Sky". Vocals come in and they are just lovely. There's a fundamental disconnect to this kind of music for me. But I'm not hating this. It's a good enough tune that really showcases Angele's high-end vocally. "Our Paradise" is next and it's more pop and less classical. Makes sense that this was a recent single. It has a lot more melody and radio appeal than track one. "Forever Strong" is a sad ballad. She sounds great, but the song is slow-moving and not particularly interesting. "Rare Girl" has my favorite piano riff of the entire album. Almost a Tori Amos feel to it. I really like this one. "Hold On" really highlights her vocal range set to a simple piano melody. Another strong tune. Most of the record has been solid, just not spectacular. "I Want a World" was the first single off the album and for good reason, it's a pretty tune that lyrically makes a case for unity. That's pretty cool. It's divisive out here in these streets.
This wasn't the album to make me a big classical pop fan, but that's not to say it wasn't good. It was. I found a lot of the tunes pleasant, but not excellent. That's ok. Good is good enough sometimes. I recommend it to fans of Streisand and Bocelli, but would probably tell most metalheads to pass. Obvs.