Whilst I accept that press releases will be effusive with praise towards their artist and display a tendency to use words that may be better suited to describing an orgasm rather than the latest release from, say, an Indie band with an unhealthy Morrissey fixation, I’m left rather bemused by the phrase “splashed onto the music scene” that accompanies HOLLY TAYMAR’S blurb.
“Splashed”?
Does the poor girl suffer from overdeveloped sweat glands or does she arrive at public appearances in a wetsuit?
With HOLLY it’s all about The Voice. And like somebody young who knows she has a good Voice she throws it about carelessly on the 6 tracks that make up her debut EP. Unfortunately her understandable desire to impress with her vocal dexterity is often at the expense of the song itself as she falls into the trap of believing that trilling up and down the scales – a la Mariah Carey – somehow denotes an impassioned soul and/or makes her style more “jazz”. In truth it amounts to little more than an irritating distraction. I’ll spare her any further criticism (said the patronising reviewer) as she is only 19 years of age and this ill judged vocal exuberance can be ironed out if somebody gets to her in time.
Assuming she’s not creating yet another “splash” by swimming with dolphins or dive-bombing into the deep end at the town baths.
HOLLY is talented, of that view I am unequivocal. She seems to be pitching herself into the Jamie Callum/Norah Jones market of mellow pop/jazz. Her Voice is capable of hitting the mark and her song-writing shows great promise. First song ‘Indian Sky’ highlights both of these positives. An eastern tinged acoustic ballad the opening bars reveals a sensuous quality to her Voice that perfectly matches the musical atmosphere.
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However, when she starts stretching out the word “sky” across umpteen notes the alarm bells start to ring. The coffee-table piano jazz of ‘Chasing Rainbows’ follows a similar pattern in that she carries the song for a while but can’t stop herself from showing off vocally further into the track. On ‘Shoes’ the flights of vocal gymnastics rule the roost and the skip button comes into play. It’s re-employed on ‘Lady’ a track that seems to have been written and arranged solely to provide a vocal exercise before actually singing a song.
HOLLY TAYMAR needs to ditch the vocal diarrhoea and give her songs breathing space, some room to allow the underlying melodies to come through thus providing both complement and contrast to her dynamic vocal range. She should use her song-writing as an equal partner that can offer her greater emotional range and soulful penetration, giving listeners a broader canvass on which to appreciate her singing talents.
On the evidence on this EP the current relationship between her voice and her music is the equivalent of pummelling a deliberately weaker opponent during an undisciplined work-out in the boxing ring.
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