Saturday, December 29, 2007

the Worldly Flavor of Rue Melo

Some albums you listen to just lack a straight edge for you to follow. You listen to it and try to find its shape so you can fit it through the opening in the box of musical genres, but come up short. Rue Melo's self-titled debut album is like that. I've been listening to it; I've been loving it; I've been trying to think how I can encompass it in a nice tidy package (to no avail).

Rue herself is something of a cultural smorgasbord. Born in Paris to a French dancer and a father who was a guitarist and singer from Uruguay, Rue later was transplanted to California. It's easy to see this amalgamation of cultures in her work. Of instant obviousness are the lyrics in English, French, and Spanish (listen to Enamorada below, which artfully blends all three languages together into one musical statement). The music on the album ranges from club music one could imagine hailing out of Miami (check out Check It, below), to latin tinged melodies, to R&B flavored numbers. Trust me, this is like nothing else that's in your iMusicplayer right now.

The downside of the album: my inability to follow all three languages. Damn my Americanness.




Visit her website, her label Fighter Records, and become her friend on MySpace.


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thanks. You always have rather 'unique' picks for your entries.

Cheers!

-k