30th January, 2009

JUSTIN MICHAEL

Album: Make Some Noise

Artist: Krystal Meyers

Year: 2008
Label: Sony/BMG - Essential
Web: www.krystalmeyers.com
 
In A Word: Krystal-pop

"I was prepared not to dig this disc but the more air time I gave it the more it convinced me that some quasi-eighties pop with a Krystal vocal was a good thing for the collection."

Grab the positive side of Kylie, the pop-grit of Superchick and the pure vocal's of a Nicole Nordeman or Plumb and you've got a bit of the sound.

Get some laser lights, a bunch of dancers and a Rogue-traders' synthesiser and you've got the vibe to play this disc.

Meyers goes from messages about the power of positive thinking youth in the opening cut Make Some Noise - "but when it all goes wrong, we're not afraid to scream 'cause the future's ours to make, oh, oh, shout it out!" - to the rock-anthem God-music of S.O.S. - "Holy Father, make us whole 'cause you alone can save our souls" - and the pure pop love tracks of Shine and Feels So Right.

The use of vocoders and deep bass grooves gives this disc a slick sound that will feel at home in most teenager's collections. It's full of positive messages, hooky melodies and has that 'get your homework done quicker' kinda sound...you know, the one where maths makes more sense when there's a bass groove behind it?

Meyers is the key writer on this solo disc. She writes in the liner notes "to Jojo for helping me make a record that I love and the reflects me and my heart from every angel!"

My Freedom, for example, asks: "can you feel this heart; it's beating like a drum it's beating, it's calling out to you, will you come and rain on this desert heart?" while In Your Hands is more of a prayer: "I'll close my eyes and fall into plan...I trust you cause it's all in Your hands".

I was prepared not to dig this disc but the more air time I gave it the more it convinced me that some quasi-eighties pop with a Krystal vocal was a good thing for the collection.