Alexia Melnychuck has something very much in common with some of Canada's most influential and inspiring singer songwriters but what tends to set her apart from all who have gone before is her beautifully mastered vocals and expertly crafted lyrics and arrangements. It's a lot to have to live up to but then it's all her fault whatever way you look at it for having the unmitigated audacity to be one hell of an artist while the rest of us simply accept that the girl touches and provokes things in our hearts and souls that we'd thought were locked away for good!
Flying Machine is an upbeat and lyrically innovative sensation that brings the listener in through the warm and welcoming doors of this delightfully refreshing debut ep. Intricately weaved acoustic guitar takes the pace besides some warm and refreshingly brilliant string work while Alexia's vocals take command of expression and emphasis for the beautifully reflective lyrics. It's so nice to hear vocals being performed in this way and it's also quite a tribute to both Alexia and Norm for their expertly effective production work. Flying Machine, ladies and gentlemen is a superb song from a superb songwriter!
Everything kinda draws you closer to Alexia's lyrical abilities as it contains and confines your attentiveness to the nth degree in very much the same way as some of the best female singer/songwriters have over the past forty years. It's such a welcoming experience in a sense because, for me personally, I haven't actually heard anything quite this good emerge from Canada in a very long time. I love the way Alexia adds sustain and vibrato in her vocals in a completely unpredictable manner almost as though the words were conceived at exactly the same time as the voice tones and inflections.. quite simply, they were born and raised and destined to be together! Watch out also for the delightfully accompanying fiddle work!
Diamonds is the song that made me realize that everything I've said so far was absolutely spot on! Harmonies are really effective in maintaining your now sensitized gaze at what's happening at the microphone end. The acoustic playing balances nicely against the fiddle playing and all the time your so hoping you haven't missed anything as you try hard to restrain yourself from clicking on the rewind button! Watch the vocal emphasis on 'diamonds' and you get the feeling that something rather magical is happening between the singer and the notes as they wrap themselves around each vowel and consonant! A beautiful song in every conceivable way!
Home has some fabulous keyboard and guitar trickling's that set the horizon behind Alexia's vocals like a wide blue sky behind bright edged clouds of ingenuity. Again, the production work and arrangements are excellent and you start to wonder if it is at all possible to force the release of Alexia's second audio offering sooner than is currently being planned. I'd love to see Alexia and the band performing live and I think I'll get that arranged for as soon after the snow here in Edmonton has melted!
Look at you is the last track on this cruelly short EP. I'm actually becoming 'attached' to Alexia's vocal so much that it's going to be an added crime when I accept that this is the last track I'm likely to hear for a hopefully short while. 'Look at you' takes the traditionally incidental 'you and me' songwriting formula and enhances it to a point of excellence and to a point where the listener is reflective rather than introspective. It's a real sharing song is this little piece of magic and I'm wondering if my visualization of the musicians having a ball during the recording session has any real baring on reality? Either way.. Look at you is a damn fine song that's nicely vocalized and superbly produced!
Alexia Melnychuck Flying Machine deserves to be pushed and promoted and distributed sensibly into the hands of a musically malnourished world. The production and arrangements for this debut are flawlessly synchronized in a way that adds depth and meaning to the artist's intentions and abilities and for everyone involved in this recording experience... what a great collection of gems you have here!
For the rest of you of course... the message is quite simple... seek out Alexia Melnychuck if you haven't already!
