​Kelley Mickwee (from the album Everything Beautiful

​Kelley Mickwee (from the album Everything Beautiful

​Kelley Mickwee (from the album Everything Beautiful available on AMCO Music Group) (by Brian Rock)
Soulful chanteuse Kelley Mickwee showcases her beautiful voice on her second solo album Everything Beautiful. The former member of the criminally underrated collective The Trishas channels her Memphis roots to create a Dusty-In-Memphis inspired mellow masterpiece. Finding herself in a wistful mood, Mickwee contemplates love and loss while creating the ultimate date night soundtrack.

The title track starts with sensual guitar licks, subdued bass, and light drum whisks while Kelley Mickwee takes note of the beauty around her. Singing, ‘dragonflies flurry overhead. The sparrows are sleeping softly in their bed…’ she gives a litany of nature’s beauty. Like Louis Armstrong’s “What A Wonderful World”, she evokes a sense of wonder and awe for the majesty that surrounds us. Then she adds a romantic twist, adding ‘then it hits me out of the blue – everything that’s beautiful is you’. Perfectly capturing the first rush of new love, she notes how the world seems brighter, the air seems lighter, and all the beauty that used to pass unnoticed in the background of daily life suddenly surges into focus. Gospel background singers add an ethereal touch to take the feeling to an even higher level. It’s a sublime love song that you will want to slow dance to all night.

“Comes Out Wrong” is another soulful outpouring of love. This time Kelley Mickwee confronts the dilemma of having feelings so strong that you can’t find the right words to express them. The organ-tinged ballad conveys the vulnerability of two people trying to open up to each other. Despite the risk, she reminds us the reward is well worth the effort. “Let’s Run Away” adds a sultry, Calypso Jazz rhythm to entice her lover to seize the moment. Mickwee also gives equal time to the dark side of love. “Long Goodbye” delicately deals with a romance in decline. After the initial passion wanes, Mickwee asks ‘why do you want to change me after you said we were so right?’. Fully capturing the emotion of a love that once was, her pain is palpable as she sings ‘what’s the sense of holding on so tight when it all just fades away?’. “You Lie” is a more accusatory heartbreak song but even here Kelley Mickwee is able to convey a sense of loss and longing. “Verge Of Tears” addresses the lingering pain after a heartbreak. Having been hurt once, it’s easy to harden your heart to keep others out. But the gentle Soul rhythms, buoyed by pulses of Hammond organ, give solace as Mickwee’s compassionate tone offers encouragement to open up and try again. “About Time” picks up the pieces with a groove-infused call to move forward. Singing ‘it’s about time to taste the other side. It’s about time for these echoes to subside’, Mickwee urges us to let go of the pain of the past. In doing so she promises ‘we will be free’. Picking up the tempo on “Force of Nature”, Mickwee reminds us that we are all unique, strong, and beautifully made. Telling us to let go of our attachment to the past, she sings ‘you got to love yourself if you’re gonna love anybody else’. A full force Gospel chorus hammers home the point with an exclamation point. “Joyful” brings the journey full circle. In matters of the heart, experiences can be painful, but they can also bring wisdom; which in turn can bring peace. As Mickwee explains ‘everybody stumbles. Everybody falls along the way. Everybody needs a helping hand to hold some day’. After you learn to discern puppy love, or infatuation or lust from real love; after you have had relationships to compare and contrast; after you can learn to love yourself – then you can fully experience the joy of a mature, equal, loving relationship. Gospel infused Soul rhythms testify to the power of love. The joy is contagious as guitar and organ intertwine in a musical embrace and Mickwee exclaims ‘everybody rise up! Everybody make a joyful noise! Everybody clap your hands and sing with one voice!’. Poignant, passionate, and powerful, Kelley Mickwee gives voice to what Van Morrison once called the inarticulate speech of the heart. (by Brian Rock)
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Listen and buy the music of Kelley Mickwee from AMAZON
For more info, check out the Kelley Mickwee website