Memories – Lady M (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

I can’t say that the work I do isn’t varied. One moment I’m listening to a New York post-punk outfit, the next wrestling with the subtleties and swagger of a Berlin rap crew and then waxing lyrical about Tokyo’s latest synth-wavers. But it isn’t often that I am presented with classical soprano performances, but that is what I faced when I opened up this scintillating track from singer Laura Gomez and composer/musician Maria Rago.

Now, I can’t claim to be that well versed in the operatic and classical worlds, but I will say that Memories is a rich and rewarding experience, one that comes on like a sorbet for the musical mind, cleansing it of any notion of the usual beats and bars and bravado and brashness that is my typical stock in trade. And, as it grows, it treats the now-ready musical palette to a sumptuous audio feast, evolving from a gentle lulling sound and quickly rising through sky-shaking grandeur, travels epic and anthemic realms reaching an operatic crescendo before falling back into more modest (relatively speaking) deliveries.

As always with such music, it is the control and delivery which astounds, the ability to hold and manipulate notes into a form of singing which is both impressive and sublime, which reminds the writer of contemporary pop and rock music reviews, like me, that even with all their studio gizmos and clever technology, digital enhancements and smart peripherals, most bands, even the best of them, pale in comparison with such trained and talented artists. But also the way that the music that acts as a platform for the vocals to dance over gently rise and fall, ebb and flow to match and complement the shifting dynamics.

I’m not saying that one musical form or genre is better than the other, but it does put things in perspective when an indie kid with a working knowledge of A minor, a battered acoustic guitar and a bag of attitude gets a bit above their station. Yes, you might be good, but you’ll never be this good so maybe you should just stay in your lane.