Melissa McClelland

Victoria Day (Six Shooter)

By Christine Werthman
Published: June 29th, 2009 | 7:00am

Melissa McClelland is the kind of woman you would want on your side during a bar fight. Her voice might be in the quiet, unassuming vein of the Watson Twins or Norah Jones, but McClelland’s music has a swaggering country blues sound that she sprinkles with mentions of whiskey and a hot temper. The Canadian singer-songwriter has an edge, but it is tamed by her vocals (which are raspy but not sandpaper rough) and ventures into ballad territory. The album shows McClelland’s song range from tender country-gal lament to feisty honky-tonk diva, but she never commits to either side.

McClelland opens with “A Girl Can Dream,” replete with boogie-style piano, bouncing rockabilly electric guitar, and McClelland’s '50s country sweetheart vocals. “I have sinned / I’ve been around,” she croons like a darling of the Grand Ole Opry. She then morphs into outlaw country mode on “Glenrio,” singing, “I’m as good as dead” alongside a low and cranky electric guitar. Once she hits songs number three, “Segovia,” McClelland slows things down, dropping a lot of the country twang in favor of a ballad with soft piano and sweeping strings. She maintains the slow pace on “God Loves Me,” but she brings in deep brass and gritty guitar work that shows a grungy, Tom Waits influence. The Waits inflections carry over to “Victoria Day (April Showers),” but soften as the music brightens on “Victoria Day (May Flowers).”

The remainder of the album goes through the same soft-to-tough motions that McClelland finds herself using throughout. The songs alone are solid, but the album feels disjointed when they all come together. Victoria Day does not take you on a fluid journey through the songs; instead, the country-fused album pulls you one way, then the other, leaving you with a vibe that is about as comfortable as riding a horse bareback.

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