Arts , Greenbelt

I'm a Little Over-Excited

I've been waiting for today since 15 September '98.

That evening, at Dingwalls in Camden, I saw the best gig of my life: a powerful, eccentric, soaring, emotional performance that left me reeling. Even the unknown support act impressed. And while the support act's since released three heavily plugged and widely accepted albums, and 'become' David Gray, I've had to wait until this morning to get a second chance to hear the songs that the headline act, Maria McKee, debuted that night.

I should really wait a week before enthusing about Maria McKee's High Dive; I'm too emotionally involved to make an unbiased judgement, but I'm too excited to keep this to myself and besides, emotion is what characterises this album best. Emotion and melodrama, rock and pop mixed with strings and horns. Stunning. Beautiful. Complex.

High Dive replaces the grungy guitars from its 1996 predecessor Life is Sweet with depth and orchestrations, though the passion and pain remains. It's hard to draw comparisons to other artists, especially when so many singer-songwriters have crowded into the scene this past decade. You're just going to have to trust me on this one. Highly recommended.

(This entry was originally posted on the Greenbelt Blog.)