Review: Melanie Durrant - Anticipation
By Joe Cooke, Contributor
[Melo-D’s; 2015]
Rating: 6.5/10
Key Tracks: “By Your Side,” “Gone,” “Sunburn”
In the first months of 2015, Toronto, Ontario’s own Melanie Durant released her first album of the 2010s with Anticipation. She has managed to set a name for herself in the past by collaborating with popular Canadian artists such as Kardinal Offishall and JDiggz.
This project definitely has more of a soul-pop feel than her last hits, like “Addicted” featuring Exco Levi, which came with a reggae sound. Anticipation allows her to depict her unique and creative mind by having no guest features and no auto-tune. It’s an entertaining listen when considering her strong use of harmonies, which show she’s capable of having an innocent and soulful Minnie Riperton-like voice, while also displaying Adele-like features with a mix of high, bold vocals that illustrate her as an independent woman.
The record opens with “By Your Side,” her signature track. Durrant’s voice always has a certain element of mystery in it, which allows her to show her desire for love and deception, as depicted in the music video.
The track “Gone” has decent vocals and more of a laidback violin-based harmony to it. This gives background noise to her dramatic, suspenseful style and the tempo to suit her dry, mellow vocals.
“Four Seasons” brings up other features about the album that could be improved. At times, Durrant’s rough and bass-filled voice is overdone, especially near the last minute of the song when she could use higher harmonies for emphasis and closing.
The production work on this album could be stronger. Many of the tracks sound similar to one another and lack the instrumental qualities that make each song have its own distinguishable flavor. What helps overshadow the production flaws is the strong presence of instruments.
For example, in “Sunburn” the background drum has a strong bass to it but is in sync with the background piano and Durrant’s voice, which helps the listener vibe with the song by drawing in the lyrics easier.
Overall, Anticipation has a nice soulful feel to it, making it sound like a 1960s Motown-inspired album. It also has a dose of British/Canadian pop that could easily crossover with American mainstream pop and R&B. Being able to combine genres like this could set a foundation for Durrant's success as she tries to break through in the alternative hip-hop and R&B scene.
