Sara Melson

"Feel it Coming" is as good an anthem as I've heard in years. I'd be shocked if one of the Presidential campaigns doesn't jump on it as their theme song. The rest of the album is packed solid with heart, rhythm, harmonies, monster hooks and attitude...it's all killer, no filler." -
--farrakhanfaucet.blogspot.com - Farrakhanfaucet.blogspot.com

"Feel it Coming" is as good an anthem as I've heard in years. I'd be shocked if one of the Presidential campaigns doesn't jump on it as their theme song. The rest of the album is packed solid with heart, rhythm, harmonies, monster hooks and attitude...it's all killer, no filler." -
--farrakhanfaucet.blogspot.com - Farrakhanfaucet.blogspot.com

"It was here (at Hotel Cafe) that I discovered Sara Melson... Her music was raw, compelling, visceral and urgent. Her notes often cracked when her raw emotions were exposed without the gauze of studio tricks. Her white lace dress glowed in front of the red curtain backdrop like an angel in a David Lynch fever dream... Exquisite." - Popdose

Today Sara Melson tells us about her new single "What Are You Waiting For" from her brand new album "A Million White Stars", which is being released today (April 30th). Here is the story:
I went over to my friend Rich Jacques's place one afternoon. We were getting together to co-write a songthat we were planning to submit for a film. I had brought my journal with my lyrics, and was leafing through it to find something appropriate that could possibly work thematically for the movie. I was paging through my many lyrics and scribblings and happened upon a poem I had written a few nights before. Literally this poem had woken me up out of sleep. I always keep pen and paper next to me beside the bed, in case that happens. Anyway, this one night I guess I was fantasizing about getting out of the city and into the woods, the mountains, the trees. These verses had popped into my head about getting into nature, about the urge to bust out of town and go on a road trip, a wilderness adventure. A lot of the images are based on nostalgia for places I've been. I've spent a lot of time over the years back-country hiking and camping, especially in Northern California and Big Sur. When I feel stuck in my city rut, I find I miss it and think about it a lot: the quiet and majesty of standing under the giant trees, feeling the soft earth underfoot, swimming in a mirror-clear lake... So anyway, I read the words out loud to Rich. The way they sounded had this sort of built-in rhythm to them, and he picked up his guitar and started strumming that opening riff. I started singing the words into a melody, and he just followed me on the guitar. We both got pretty excited about it and decided to record that, instead of the assignment for the movie! We spent the rest of the afternoon on it, and it just flowed effortlessly. The whole song took us about four hours total, to write and record. Then we gave it to Rick Parker (Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Raveonettes) to mix.

Lyrically, the song is sort of an interesting blend for me between personal and universal. I feel like the verses are really my own fantasy, and the choruses are basically a call to the rest of humanity to wake up and do the same thing... Get back into nature and to our true selves. I feel like our city life, priorities, and pursuits can blind us to who we really are and where our souls really belong. We forget that we are truly children of the natural world, and part of it, and that's what the chorus is about. It's a reminder, and also a call to action. When I went to record my vocal, Rich initially stopped me. I was fighting a cold that day and could barely sing. I felt like I was croaking, my voice was so hoarse. Rich told me to just let it out, and shout if I felt like it. He was like, "Go for it, make it raw, messy, imperfect." So I started over, and sang it through that way. I just went for it. So what you hear is one take, that first take. It's definitely different from how I would sing a ballad. It's kind of a different color of my voice, of my personality, my essence. So it was a really fun song to record for that reason. Plus, I love Rich's production; it's so driving, which is perfect for a road trip song. It was the first time we'd ever written anything together. I think that day we both realized we make a pretty good writing team!

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and learn more about the album right here! - anti music

It's taken Sara Melson five years to follow up her fine 2008 Nettwerk debut Dirty Mind but the upcoming April 30 album A Million White Stars is clearly well worth the wait. Intact are the sprightly folk/pop tracks and vocals shaded with tender vulnerability that have made Melson a popular source of songs for TV shows like Grey's Anatomy. But what sets Melson's own particular songcraft apart from the thousands of female singer/songwriters is the palpable strength and honesty that flows through her music. In a cookie-cutter world littered with songs more interested in "marketing" than music, she's simply not afraid to wear her own real emotions prominently on her sleeve. While many of A Million White Star's songs are permeated with thoughtful reflection, lead single "What Are You Waiting For" (listen after the jump) is simply a two-and-a-half minute anthem celebrating the urgency of the moment: a breezy, uptempo and completely infectious song propelled by a tender-hooked chorus and hand-clapped rhythms. We're also taken with "Lay You Down", a churning folk/rocker that shimmers in it's own hazy retro-psychedelic haze. Listen for "I love the way you hit the bass"...
- Direct Current Music

"Sometimes, to expose oneself at one's most fragile and vulnerable is the ultimate act of courage. And if that's the case, then Sara Melson is one of the most fearless singer-songwriters on the planet. Her quiet strength shines through in her winsome space-balladry...Sara Melson just rocks, plain and simple."
---Lyndsey Parker, Yahoo.com - Yahoo.com

West Lafayette, Indiana's Sara Melson adorns her folk-based material with enough studio color to stretch her sound in whatever direction she's currently feeling. These songs began on an acoustic guitar or piano and could all be stripped down for a living room concert, but there's a tug of war in Melson's psyche and her melodies often reach for a sublime grandeur that ache for a larger theatre. "Feel It Coming" opens the album with the sound of the sun breaking through the clouds, as cello and electric guitar expand Melson's intimate universe. There's a genuine optimism peeking out from Melson's cautious observations and she clearly wants to believe in the "Happy Endings" she sings about. "Anywhere Anytime" powerwalks down the pavement with an insistent beat and a chorus that takes the rainy day '60's pop of Petula Clark and doses it with a shot of B-12. Most haunting is the slow piano crawl of "Never Been Hurt" that features a dark melody recalling "Blue"-era Joni Mitchell. "Fall Down" and "Nuclear Sun" indulge Melson's studio experimentalism with futuristic keyboards and dissonant electronic noises accentuating her ambitious vocal choirs.
---iTunes Review - iTunes Music Store

"L.A. has plenty of attractive singer-songwriters who sing perfectly delightful ballads. Sara Melson amps-up her sound with a stellar backing band and an impressive batch of self-released rockers that crush you the same way Liz Phair's visceral debut and Neko Case's bone chilling Blacklisted did."
--Keith Creighton, LiveMagazine.com - LiveMagazine.com

"Sara Melson shows wisdom seldom seen (or heard) in much of today's music." -
--mainstreamisntsobad.blogspot.com

- mainstreamisntsobad.blogspot.com

“Like Laura Nyro hooking up with Beggars’ Banquet-era Rolling Stones… Something special.” --Steven Mirkin, Daily Variety - Daily Variety

" 'Never Been Hurt' takes an opening Ben Folds would love and turns it into the perfect single for pop/country/Top 40 crossover success...Dirty Mind is full of such songs, and though when push comes to shove Melson tends to gravitate toward the sounds of country music, she maintains such a pop presence in her songwriting that it's almost a certainty that she'll receive radio recognition for her work. At least she'd better, if there's anything good about the music world today... A complete, aurally complex album, one worthy of repetitive listening by any self-respecting fan of well-developed alt-country music...(and) an artist with a great deal of choice as to where her career might go from here. If she leans toward country and focuses her career to that end, she could have a career to rival Kasey Chambers. If she spreads her sound further into indie-rock territory, she could take on Jenny Lewis or Sheryl Crow song for song a few years down the road. With such a bright and open future ahead, here's hoping this album gets the exposure it deserves."
--Stereosubversion.com

- Stereosubversion.com

“Like Laura Nyro hooking up with Beggars’ Banquet-era Rolling Stones… Something special.” --Steven Mirkin, Daily Variety - Daily Variety

"This LA-based singer/songwriter belts out the prettiest, most poetic and flowing tunes I have heard in a while...Listen to her now before everyone else discovers her."
--brewedfresh.blogspot.com - BrewedFresh.blogspot.com

"Sara Melson is a diverse artist with depth in both AAA and alt-country genres. She has the raspy voice of Kim Carnes with the lyrical sensibilities of Patty Griffin and Kasey Chambers. "Anywhere Anytime" is a perfect pop piece in the style of the Bangles, while "Fall Down" has a more alt-country feel. Melson is a natural and possesses excellent skills on both keyboards and guitar. Her chemistry with the band is extraordinary...above board in all regards. Melson has a great sense of humor, which enables her to make a strong connection with the audience, capturing the attention of all...The music is very strong and tight. An excellent songwriter and performer with a penchant for catchy songs that have a wide appeal."
---Bob Leggett, Music Connection Magazine - Music Connection Magazine

West Lafayette, Indiana's Sara Melson adorns her folk-based material with enough studio color to stretch her sound in whatever direction she's currently feeling. These songs began on an acoustic guitar or piano and could all be stripped down for a living room concert, but there's a tug of war in Melson's psyche and her melodies often reach for a sublime grandeur that ache for a larger theatre. "Feel It Coming" opens the album with the sound of the sun breaking through the clouds, as cello and electric guitar expand Melson's intimate universe. There's a genuine optimism peeking out from Melson's cautious observations and she clearly wants to believe in the "Happy Endings" she sings about. "Anywhere Anytime" powerwalks down the pavement with an insistent beat and a chorus that takes the rainy day '60's pop of Petula Clark and doses it with a shot of B-12. Most haunting is the slow piano crawl of "Never Been Hurt" that features a dark melody recalling "Blue"-era Joni Mitchell. "Fall Down" and "Nuclear Sun" indulge Melson's studio experimentalism with futuristic keyboards and dissonant electronic noises accentuating her ambitious vocal choirs.
---iTunes Review - iTunes Music Store