Scene and Heard – CCCLII : Road Not Taken  – Tres Hanley Millman (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

If you are one of those people who shudders when confronted with the notion of someone known as a sit-com actress pursuing a career in music then Tres Hanley Millman is probably who you need to hear to break those cliched images already forming in your head. Tres has always juggled a number of disciplines, acting, musical theatre and music, and with her fourth album, Shades of Darkness, already underway, it is clear that she is no fly by night pop wannabe using music to shore up a waning career. Anything but.

Road Not Taken is a wonderfully emotive piece of music, sitting somewhere between pop ballad, show tune and modern classical piano piece. But whilst musically it is woven from subtle washes of strings and plaintive piano work, it is in the lyrical message that the power of the song lies, made all the more effective for the space around it. It is a song of optimism in the face of heartache, of taking those leaps of faith against all logic, of being brave and doing what feels right rather than what you are told is right.

It is a wonderfully graceful song, one that is woven from the lightest musical structures, the most ethereal of vocal deliveries and the most important of philosophies. Glorious.