Print Edition: September 17, 2014
Madeline Merlo
Madeline Merlo EP
Maple Ridge’s Madeline Merlo released her self-titled debut album this past summer. The EP contains five tracks including the singles “Sinking like a Stone” and “Alive.” Overall, the EP showcases Merlo’s vocals, and autotune and over-production are thankfully absent. The songs are well-written. The track “Meant to Last” simply features two instruments and Merlo’s strong country vocals. After listening to the EP, the track standing out the most was the fifth and final one, “Deleted,” a playful song about having to delete exes from various social media sites after a break-up. “Deleted” definitely lightens up the mood. Overall, I enjoyed the album, and if you enjoy country music I’d definitely give it a listen.
Arkells
High Noon
High Noon is very much an Arkells album. It has contagious vocal lines, hooky memorable choruses, and a punchy rhythm section that is begging you to get up and dance. Despite all this, High Noon seems to fall flat as a whole, which is hard to accept considering how all the proven elements are there. The issue with High Noon lies in two things: production and formulation. In terms of production, High Noon seems cluttered and muddled, unsure of which sound to highlight in any given section, often competing with the vocal work of lead vocalist Max Kerman. Formulation-wise, Arkells seemed to just be rolling through the motions on this record, producing a record we have heard before, a record that is easily digested alongside their other two records, Jackson Square and Michigan Left. Hopefully this is just a one-off and not a trend for one of Canada’s greatest current rock bands.
