MELANIE JOHNSON: Soul of a Spy

Melanie Johnson

Soul of a Spy

© 2007 Melanie Johnson

CD IN STOCK. ORDER NOW. Will ship immediately.

Melodic, non-wimpy, chord-changy, angst-filled, non-boring guitar-based songs, one of which might give you goose-bumps. At least, those are the kind I like (and try to write)

notes

"Melanie Johnson is one of the great pure pop discoveries of 2007. Her music has a wonderful purity to it that brings to mind everything from Aimee Mann, Keane, Left Banke, Suzanne Vega, and Mary Lou Lord. If you like straight ahead great honest to God pop music with no gimmicks and lots of sincerity..please pick this up! You'll be glad you did! Grade A" Jeremy Morris, Jam Records


I remember buying a CD of an artist I had never heard of because, in her interview in the national magazine, she said she liked the music of George Gershwin. I was intriqued enough to buy her CD. I had loved Rhapsody in Blue as a kid and I figured if those chord changes spoke to her, then I might like the music she made. Turns out, I was right. (The artist was Sam Phillips, the CD "Cruel Inventions", one of my favorites to this day.) I'm still always attracted first to the song itself...not the lyrics,but the chord changes and how the melody fits over them. Think "Pulling Mussels from a Shell" by Squeeze, or "Bus Stop" by the Hollies, "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Green Day, "More Like You" by Nickel Creek. I keep tryng to write songs that have that place in them, that chord change that turns the emotional curve. If I'm very lucky I get goose bumps. I don't know if I succeed, but I try.
"Soul of a Spy" is my second CD, songs that I promise aren't boring, and that ask questions, tell some truths, most all with a good beat, lots of guitars, and plenty of angst.
I hope you'll like it. Melanie.



From Jeremy at Jam Recordings:

"Melanie Johnson is one of the great pure pop discoveries of 2007. Her music has a wonderful purity to it that brings to mind everything from Aimee Mann, Keane, Left Banke, Suzanne Vega, and Mary Lou Lord. If you like straight ahead great honest to God pop music with no gimmicks and lots of sincerity..please pick this up! You'll be glad you did! Grade A "

reviews

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  • Guitars, Drums, and Angst for Melanie Johnson = Bliss for the Listener
    author: Stacy Yelton, WUKY

    From the soft opening to the roaring guitar break of "Pointless," the lead track on Melanie Johnson's "Soul of a Spy" CD, you get a pretty good idea of where she's taking you. "It Was" and "All in My Head" are brave confessions of pain and loss, while "Summer Side" and the cover of The Cyrkle's "Turn Down Day" let you know that hope springs eternal. The juxtaposition of Melanie's soft voice and her blazing guitar work are further proof that contradiction is the very thing that makes this CD work so well.

  • Melanie sings like an angel in a rock and roll band
    author: Red Truck Radio

    This CD illustrates what happens when someone with talent takes the time to think and say what comes from the deepest part of her. The highlight for me was the gut wrencher, "It Was", about a girls retrospective of her mother. Other highlights are "Pointless", showcased by the production and guitar skills of Craig Bickhardt and Jack Sundrud. "Summer Side" and "Dance to a Band" gave great contrast to this admittedly introspective but exquisitely crafted collection.

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