Rebecca Moreland – Freak Soul

Rebecca Moreland’s debut single “Freak Soul” doesn’t exactly break new ground. Her themes are as old as rock and roll. The drive for personal independence, the need to be true to yourself, these ideas are stock rock and roll tropes from the era of Chuck Berry onward. So what does Rebecca Moreland bring to the table that we didn’t have before? She brings herself. Moreland is an unique performer for multiple reasons. Few singer/songwriters so young speak so frankly about the need to speak to one another, to bare our hearts, and hold nothing back in our lives. “Freak Soul” speaks about that need and frames it as the most important personal imperative of all too brief life. She surrounds it with vital music traditional in uses, but often employed in slightly unusually ways. 

Despite pursuing a typically pre-programmed tempo, Moreland chooses instead to use a live drummer. The effect is noticeable. The slightly behind the beat percussion has “Freak Soul” swinging from the outset and strengthens its humanity. Behind every music performance is a hidden, secret thrill that the musicians are fallible human beings and one major slip up, a second of lapsed concentration, might send the entire song running off the rails. There’s no danger of that here. Instead, Moreland’s band dispatches this song with swagger more common to a rock song than a dance music track. 

The beats and rhythms want you to move. It’s interesting that Moreland places her important message within a musical form frequently derided for its lack of substantive value. On one hand, some might say she runs the risk of her message remaining unheard thanks to people’s preconceptions, but there’s an equally valid argument that her surprising juxtaposition might provoke some to listen. The truth is likely in the middle.  

The rhythm section is quite powerful and steers the song musically. Other instruments rise up out of the mix, but the steady pulse set by the bass and drums keeps the song hammering for its entirety. Moreland plays off that percussive foundation in her singing, timing certain words and singing between the spaces on others. The song is the right length considering its style and subject matter. It balances having enough time to develop its ideas without ever sticking around long enough to overindulge itself.  

It’s a tantalizing preview of what’s to come. Moreland is obviously a talented writer and possesses a deep musical imagination, but it’s her voice that brought her to the party. It is an instrument clearly capable of taking her wherever she wants to go and “Freak Show” is likely the tip of the iceberg in regards to its limits.  

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/RebeccaMorelandMusic 

REVERBNATION: https://www.reverbnation.com/rebeccamoreland 

8/10 Stars 

Cyrus Rhodes