[Review] Michelle Williams- "If We Had Your Eyes"

The only Destiny's Child member not selling music with the aide of her sexuality, Ms. Michelle Williams is back! *Yikes, that reads way more bitchy than it was in my head!* I've always had a soft spot for the Gospel favouring Diva and her new single, If We Had Your Eyes, doesn't do anything to harm those affections. They may even have increased them!

Though back on the Gospel tip, after last and secular album Unexpected failed to sell, Michelle's choice to return to her roots doesn't have the smell of failure or a U-turn about it. In fact it sounds as if she's come home, with If We Had Your Eyes ringing a lot more truer than anything found on Unexpected. (I should just say, I actually really liked that album.)

Michelle's voice is stronger than ever too, with it definitely being more commercially viable than at any other point in her career– mostly thanks to the nasal tone being somewhat tempered and her voice thickening. But not only is the vocal suitably impressive, the Harmony Samuels old-school production marries beautifully with its earthy tones and the Gospel message.

It's a promising return from Tenitra (I haven't forgotten who I am writing about, that's her Christian name!), and I look forward to hearing more from the Diva's as yet untitled fourth album– secular or not. Oh and I'm loving the spoken outro, it's giving me Who Is Jill Scott? goodness!

Buy If We Had Your Eyes @ Itunes

[Versus] Who Sang "Stay" (Live) Better: Demi Lovato Or Rihanna?

Demi Lovato is one of the new generation of Divas- along with Ariana Grande- whose vocal profile gets a heck of a lot of hits daily. Not only that, but I know there are a number of regular readers, or "Lovatics", who also enjoy the X-Factor USA judge's musical output and voice. This being so, I thought I'd play to the crowd and post her rendition of Rihanna's Stay, which was filmed at the B96 Pepsi Summer Smash in Chicago.

Needless to say, Demi has no problem handling the Mikky Ekko assisted duet. For the most part she refrains from going crazy with the pipes, sticking pretty faithfully to the song's melody. But let's get real, no one wants to hear a cover sang exactly as the original was- there's kinda no point- and Demi knows it, "Lovatomising" the song at its climax by taking it up an octave. Vocally impressive, but does it match or even best Rihanna's original?

[Vocal Profile] Haley Reinhart

Haley Reinhart

Vocal Type: Light Lyric Soprano
Vocal Range: D3-E6 (3 octaves, 1 note)
Tessitura: D4-E5 (1 octave, 1 note)
Whistle Register: No

Vocal Pluses: An emotive singer, this Diva demonstrates great control over her instrument in its upper reaches. Her voice is characterized by its ability to growl emotively, and go from a sweet whisper, to a belt at forte. Her voice also has a nice natural rasp that gives the voice a false sense of thickness.

Haley Reinhart's lower register, is thin and lacks resonance, though the tone is nasal, reedy, and sweet. She loses resonance as she dips below B3. Despite this fact, she wields it with nice artistry; using the thinness of this register to give the voice a great sense of dynamics, being able to go from a low whisper-like note to an elastic belt easily [Hear: Oh My]. However, her technique in this region is questionable, with notes often being reached by forcing the larynx down.

Her mid voice, spanning C4-C5, is still light in both weight and volume which gives her voice an overly delicate and youthful sound [Hear: Wasting Tears]. The voice breaks at around C5 where her falsetto gives way. Her tone in this area is rather guttural and edgy at times [Hear:Wasting Tears] but can be softer, and cooler [Hear: Hit the Ground Running ]. This area is quite easily accessed, though at times she can sound monotone.

Her belting register is her strongest suit, spanning from B4-G#5. She uses this part, combined with her ability to mix and her extensive volume control, to give the voice added dynamic [as heard in the D5 of Oh My and the C#5 of the chorus of Undone]. She has quite a durable voice, being able to "growl" for extensive periods with little if any resulting vocal deterioration. She also has extensive stamina in this region, being able to sing difficult lyrical passages [as heard in her many American Idol covers and her song Keep Coming Back]. Her tone in this region is very reedy, though its texture is very raspy.

Haley has a well developed mix and relies heavily on falsetto, rather than true head voice. It extends upwards to Soprano E. Her tone here is a dead ringer for a piccolo, and is in contrast to the rest of her voice. It is warm and has a light weight fragility to it. She can switch to head tones within the space of a breath and exhibits great dexterity here. Her mix is stellar and uses great technique to achieve this sound. (Just about every single song she has created shows off her head tones.)

Vocal Negatives: Thin light voice, is a very acquired taste and has trouble being heard over instrumentation in a live setting. Her technique in her belting register needs polish, as there is questionable technique and a lack of mixing involved when singing. Her growling, similarly, employs questionable technique. A listener may also take issue with the nasal and bight tone present in her full voice,  her rasp, and her weak lower register.

Thanks to Montrez Rambo for this Profile! 

[Cover] Florence Welch Works Her Magic With Icona Pop's "I Love It" @ HRC Benefit

Here's something I wasn't expecting to see, EVER: Florence Welch covering Icona Pop's thumping dance track I Love It.

With the original version housing a rebellious and petulant vocal courtesy of Charli XCX, I couldn't even fathom how someone with as contrasting a voice as the Welchster would bend the song to her musical will. The answer, was of course, for Florence to strip the track back, slow it down and give her wavering voice the room to substitute a more melodic line for Charli's punchy delivery. Initially it sounded out of tune to me, but the magic built as the song progressed and I was suitably charmed and impressed by the end.

An effect of the change of pace and Florence's emotive ways, was that the song's lyrics- which originally sounded as shallow as a dried up puddle- got a better chance to be heard and appreciated. Where there was once just defiant empowerment, there's now a sense of sorrow and loss mixed in with this sentiment. Effectively Florence managed to give the song a depth which wasn't present before.

[Watch] Cher Wows With Live Rendition Of "Woman's World" @ Voice USA

The Legend (with a capital letter!) that is Cher took to the Voice USA to spread the camp Gospel to a new generation of listeners. Rejoice and receive it gratefully, young'uns! Rocking some kind of hybrid wig, and an outfit that you won't find knocking about your local high street, the Diva had the crowd suitably hyped with her new single, Woman's World. Sure, there was a backing track going on, but her live vocals were pretty strong over the top, so all was okay! If I'm honest, I thought Cher couldn't sing live anymore, but she sure shut me up with this performance. Shame on me for doubting her! I only wish her Burlesque co-star had been there to catch the performance!

I already covered my thoughts on the single, here: it's good but not great. Still, it's almost unbelievable that its release marks the entertainer's fifth decade in the industry! When will your fav be able to boast such a feat!? NEVER- that's when! And she's still going strong, even now! Whatever this member of the Diva aristocracy is taking, I want (desperately need?) some of it! I have my suspicions that she's made a deal with this lovely lady, but I'm yet to one hundred percent confirm it...

[Vocal Profile] Judy Garland

Judy Garland

Vocal Type: Middle-weight contralto
Vocal Range: 2 Octaves 3 notes (D3-G5)
Tessitura: E3-Bb4
Whistle Register: No
Vocal Pluses:A fantastically identifiable voice – best known for her roles at MGM Studios, but also for her extensive back-catalogue; the entire voice has a warm, rich, incredibly velvety quality.

The low notes, encompassing a D3 [Old Man River] have a darkness that pervades much of the voice, and as most contraltos tend to, this part of the voice seems incredibly easy for Judy to hit both from the beginning of her career [F3 in Over the Rainbow original] until the end.

The middle range, starting at about B3 and up until Ab4, had that same richness, only now with more variations for volume than the lower range offered. Her voice sat incredibly easily in this part of the voice, and didn’t show any signs of fatigue even into her later years [Judy and Liza at the Palladium].

The high range, when executed using a ‘belting’ technique as she did through most of her later career, had an incredible capacity for power and dramatic highs, though they generally had to be built up to in the later section of a song. The belting range could be taken up to D5 [Get Happy], and the same rich and full tone that the rest of the voice had stands true in the high range, even moreso than the middle. She also showed in her earlier years that she could mix her voice brilliantly [White Christmas, Where There’s Music), thereby getting a sweeter, less overpowering sound, which she used in later years as well, though less frequently. When Judy decided to use head voice, though rarely displayed, it still shone with surprising brilliance and ease [Opera Spoof], encompassing at least G5 if not higher. The head voice lost no tone or warmth, taking on a nearly operatic quality that was incredibly full and bright.

Overall, though she is renowned for being an emotive singer, her technique was quite brilliant, and that she could even sing by the late 60s given her use of drugs and alcohol is quite amazing.

Vocal Negatives: The voice in later years began to lose some of the ease that her younger self had, though this is due in part to ageing, drug/alcohol abuse, and a natural lowering of the voice after her 20s. Some found her style of singing to be too abrasive and blaring, though this is entirely a personal taste.

Thanks so much to Marty M for putting this together!!

*I'll add some audio clips at some point, but here is a documentary about the singer for now:

[New Music] Listen To Lana Del Rey's "Beautiful Player" And "Breaking My Heart"

Lana Del Rey must be the most productive singer out there! There doesn't seem to be a minute where the singer-songwriter isn't leaking material on to the net. Seriously, she must live in the studio! Still, it eases the transition (and the painful longing) between her début album and it's upcoming sophomore follow up, so I shan't complain.

First up is Beautiful Player which wears its Hip Hop influences on its sleeve, with a heavy beat and a male rapper/the song producer/ family friend (I don't know who he is) alibiing over the track and spitting a few bars after the song's bridge. Lana keeps the vocals sweet and light while she sings about her scumbag, but beautiful, boyfriend who keeps playing around. All-in-all, not a bad track.