| Category | Rating |
|---|---|
| Track Structure | 8 |
| Interest | 8 |
| Melody | 7 |
| Performance | 9 |
| Lyrics | 8 |
| Enjoyment | 8 |
| Recording Quality | 9 |
| Commercial Appeal | 7 |
| Overall | 8 |
For those that don't know, Stella Polaris is a collaboration that formed on this site between Ricky Mancini (MD-1 Project) and Melind Mohn (solo). Ricky the producer/nstrumentalist and Melinda the singer/ lyricist who also produces and arranges her own music. A very unique combination that I would have never paired together as he is predominately a trance music producer and she a jazz influenced singer/songwriter. Now as odd as this combination may seem, they pull it off wonderfully together through this song and through the other Polaris songs I have listened to, which is why their sound seems so fresh to me.
Initially, the song eases into itself with some light congo drums and some piano (But who's playing it? Not sure.). Melinda's vocals soar over the verse beautifully. She has a very classic voice with a nice, drawn vibrato and a great falsetto. Her harmonies work very well and she seems to have an excellent vocal range. The connsumate vocal pro if you will. The track itself is full of percusions and lots of interesting drum patterns of which I've grown accustomed to hearing in Ricky's work, although this song does not showcase his skills as a beatmaker. In this case it is not necessary though and Ricky does an excellent job of allowing the song to present itself the way it should with the melodies they have written. His little patterns throughout fit very nicely into this style of song. Melodically the track fits right in to serve it's purpose and doesn't distract the listener. I dod score it a 7 though because there are not a whole lot of interesting melodical things going on in the melody of the track. In my opinion, the track is to highlight the vocals.
Ron Soderstrom, a longtime friend and collaborator of Melinda's, accents this song perfectly with his trumpet playing. An excellent call to have him on this with his "lonely" notes that really present a dichotamy in relation to some of the lyrics. In fact, I'll have to say his trumpet and Melinda's vocals are neck in neck as to which one is my favorite part of this song.
My interpretation lyrically is that of someone searching, yet again for love, after an experience that did not work out. Having to shy away from truly opening up to that person, our character is back to walking her own "private road" staying true to who they are but yet having to hold back certain feelings they have or had inside. In fact, the feeling it evokes for me is one of the wounded who has been down this road before and is walking it again, knowing that it still hurts to have lost, but that there is more searching and healthy healing to be done, and actually relishing it. This is where the dichotamy I found intersting takes place. The healing and self-love vs. the hurt yet again. My only issue lyrically would be in the mix. I would ike to hear the vocals brought up some more to really highlight the story taking place. I caught most of the words but there were some I couldn't understand which left some holes in the storyline.
Overall, this is another quality track by Stella Polaris. Although I don't see much radio friendly appeal, I do see this as a great song for a soundtrack to a movie. They have a very fresh and intreresting mix of music that I highly recommend. I feel both artists are top notch in their respective talents and I look forward to hearing more of their work together. This is a very mellow, laidback , melancholic, and beautifully sung song. I would recommend listening. Nice work!
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