The solo acoustic guitar paired with hushed vocals is perhaps the most abundant musical style. When done well it can be simply amazing and when done horribly well it’s just horrible. Although Michelle Petrie’s voice is beautiful and warm she tends to often be some place in the middle. She seems quite comfortable in this range for most of her eponymous debut record but shows potential for greater things as she just started playing around five years ago.
The opening track “Letter to God” is a four-minute confession of acoustic guitar and some strings but it’s something that I myself have heard. The lyrics encompass a sort of faux style grief and images that are likened to things in a dollar store bin; ends of roads, taking home. These sort of images are arguably used too often. And I’m not saying these things to be a jerk but just noting how this seems to be a constant issue with a genre that is oversaturated with musicians with similar themes and lyrics. Take the impressive song “The Narcissist” with its end rhymes of recounting a faceless person. Then “Getting Over” with it’s line “pick my heart up off the ground.” Pain, loss, suffering; these things are not unique to one person. Everyone at some point will encounter these things but I didn’t get the details that I sometimes personally look for. As it stands the rest of the record as a whole is like the aforementioned songs; acoustic guitar, some bass with speak song lyrics that all sort of meld into a similar style. The songs are well delivered and played but a bit more of backing band at times could have helped with switching up the energy. I’m not trying to knock anyone’s personal grief here but I think that what I can offer to help is to tell Petrie to just spend time listening to the kind of music she wants to create. And I mean really listen to it, and branch out and find new artists, not just big names but lesser known ones. Get yourself into music first and then later when you’re inspired by so much new stuff then start writing songs. These are the things no one ever tells anyone about art because so many people starting out are so fragile, but a tough skin is what separates the greats from the others. Petrie has a lot of talent as a singer and a songwriter and there is a lot to appreciate on this debut. I wish her luck in her evolution and hope to hear more soon.
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