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| Monday, September 27, 2004
Music > The Adventures Of...by Melanie Horsnell, interview and concert review The Adventures Of... is the latest album by Melanie Horsnell. Reviewed by Dawn Fung. melanie horsnell Ever wondered if you could recapture those times that memory cannot restore? It's called "The Adventures Of..." and sung by a fantastic find called Melanie Horsnell. "The Adventures Of..." is a tight release by the Australian who adds, at the end, two French tracks as a tracking device of her journey. Take the opening track "Birds" when unashamedly linear bird sounds belt into a glorious morning, that 'even from the darkest sky/the sun came out'. The rest of the album seem to carry on in the vein of jogging your nostalgia that do not linger on in wistful depression. "I just want some love" is so candid it feels right. "Deep Blue Sea" rolls like a ode into your mind's most intimate recollection, depending if you had been staring at something of that depth. Melanie has her own voice that does not suggest the angst of Morisette but a quiet resolve to settle things her way. Unless that is the charm of nu-folk, you get drawn into her stories until you find yourself in someone's half-made bedroom. "The Adventures Of..." explores into a number of instruments that makes a sweet debut but otherwise little explored. This includes the glockenspiel, mandolin and flutophone! Melanie's vocals sound like a cross between Kate Rusby and clear strips of sunshine. Those who are unconvinced should head down to the Esplanade Recital Studio this November to catch the songbird's first Asian concert. This album would go down well with those who want to say I've got it first . For me, it does not leave the player. See Melanie Horsnell Live in Singapore. _____________________ In Conversation with Melanie Horsnell took place via email and was finished on the 24 Sep 2004 AM 08:46:52. Interviewed by Dawn Fung.  melanie horsnell M : Gday Dawn. Thanks a million for the cd review. D : Hey melanie, good job. I enjoyed the album. The songs remind me of generic journeys that I have taken in my own life. One that I keep listening to is Deep Blue Sea. What's your favourite song off the album at the moment and why? M : It's "roundabout" at the moment because the guitar line is my favourite to play, and on the album i love it when Michael Galleazzi's double bass kicks in - he plays so beautifully. D : The arrangement of songs were not chronological, was it? M : No, it's all over the place. D : What were days in the Excelsior like? Give us some juice on the struggling (if indeed) singer-songwriter complex. M : i suppose it's hard to say your struggling when you are doing something that you love, but it was a struggle some of the time - I suppose everyone has those moments where you think "why am i doing this, why don't I get a normal job!" The Excelsior was a gift to me from D.Henry Fenton, when he moved to America and left the residency to me. At the time there was just me playing for 3 hours and 4 locals at the end of the bar who would interrupt me mid song with "can't you play something happier?". Eventually i begged some of my friends to come along and play a set each, the crowd slowly grew ( and i wrote some happier, or at least more upbeat songs), and eventually i was doing 2 nights a week there with a jolly crowd and lots of great singer songwriter friends like Wesley Carr and Peregrine putting on a fun show. The struggle i suppose with singer songwriters is that we didn't really earn any money, and your always trying to make a living just doing music - the ideal being to just write songs and perform music all over the place and still being able to eat and pay rent. At one point i was working 80 hours a week at a supermarket, and playing up to 8 gigs a week, with hardly any sleep. it was very fun though. I wouldn't want to do anything else. D : I noticed the ambitious list of instruments in the album and I had a sense that they were not explored in music development but rather placed like an eclectic market of sounds. Could it be that you wanted to fit everything in? M : the album's a little like my dress sense - I like a lot of colour and texture, but still follow Chanel's saying of taking one item off before leaving the house. There are a few moments where we let the instruments sit bare and exposed - "sometimes" and "roundabout" with the hammond and double bass. But most of the time the instruments were used as icing to introduce unusual sounds and melodic lines. Not so much "trying to fit everything in" (we left a lot off in the final mix actually) but an interesting mulit coloured slightly over the top sometimes circus. D : Ok, so the French versions gave us insight into your linguistic tastes at the moment. What did you gain from cross cultural influences in your music ? M : All my songs take influences from my surroundings. I did the french versions partly because i am a bit of a francophile, and because I'd always wanted to learn french and my friend Oak said that he'd learnt English singing french songs, so translated a couple of mine for me. I've always been impressed by friends of mine from other countries who spoke 2 or 3 languages - most of us English speakers are a little slack and I'm embarressed by our assumption everyone speaks English. D : What will we expect from Melanie Horsnell when she drops by Singapore? M : I will be playing solo mostly songs from the album, and also some that have influenced me over the years. As it's solo, the songs will be stripped back to the basic bones - a guitar and voice. i enjoy playing them like that. D : What is the one childhood habit that you have tried unsuccessfully to break? M : eating chocolate. yum D : We're a Christian Magazine so we would like to find out if you are Christian (our definition : believe in Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord). If you are or are not, would you mind sharing some things that we can pray about? M : I was brought up in a Christian household. Things to pray for? A general acceptance of everbody's differences around the world would be perfect. D : Thanks Melanie. Have a good one! ------ Melanie Horsnell played 'live' at the Esplanade Recital Studio, Friday, 19th November 2004, 8pm. Reviewed by Dawn Fung. The anticipation waned because I had just come back from a trip from Chiangmai. Post travel blues always affect the way you prepare yourself for any event - you're mellow, grounded and plain reflective. The last thing you want to do is to be with a group of strangers silently awaiting a songbird from Down Under. Melanie's entrance was anything but unpredictable. Her clothes were startling... familar, like those you see from the press photographs. It might lead one to think if we could do a fundraiser for [struggling] musicians. On the other hand, there were two guitars and one was never used. If there was any humour left in me, I would walk out. But then the songs started. Birds, Beautiful Exuse, Hotel De Ville were some of the most charming numbers. The strength of Melanie Horsnell lies in her unassuming presence. Her heart is in her audience, spreading past thoughts of vacation into a realm of morning echos. When Melanie Horsnell, who is unable to get as much as a hoot from staid Singapore audiences, shifts from one foot and strums the next song, all is forgiven. What peeved me were the fact that there were about as many as fifteen pieces sung that night with no intervals. My partner drifted in and out of winks while I bopped along to lyrics I already memorised. The presentation made me wonder if we were better off listening to her music in the car rather than visually sitting in awkward anticipation. Could someone who is so brilliantly rare like my favourite Kate Rusby, fail to wake up a fellow audience member? I suspect the fault of the night lies in the venue. Esplanade may have the privilege of being the de facto arts club on the bay, but the all too clear demarcation of high audience and performer may be too distracting in this case. I say, give that girl a pub and us some beer. Maybe then the the adventures would start to take off.
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