Alya Michelson – Puppet Strings
Mindy McCall
Posted On September 25, 2018
Alya Michelson – Puppet Strings
URL: https://www.alyaofficial.com/
Even one listen to Alya Michelson’s single “Puppet Strings” makes clear this singer/songwriter and all around artist is a singular force intent to make her presence felt on the modern scene. Michelson’s press materials position her as a stylistic chameleon seamlessly blending together an assortment of influences into her work defying borders and easy categorization. The Russian born artist harbored musical dreams from her youth, but parental persuasion temporarily pushed her in a different direction and she graduated from Moscow State University with a journalism degree. Despite excelling on that chosen path, Michelson’s musical impulses could not be stilled and she opted in 2012 to step away from her successful journalism career and pursue her passion once again.
“Puppet Strings” begins evocatively with a spartan composition of upright bass and Alya’s echo enhanced scat singing. It creates a definable dream-like mood seconds into the song and the entrance of other instruments only enhances this quality. Michelson’s voice has palpable gentleness, but there’s likewise a deceptive amount of strength in her singing that rivets listener’s attention from the outset. The mid-tempo pacing of the song provides Michelson with a solid and colorful foundation during the verses and expands appropriately with its chorus. She has careful artistic instincts, however, and there’s never any sense of overreaching with that payoff moment. There’s a light classical influence defining the song as well, but it’s a facet of the performance fully in accord with the remainder of the tune.
The drumming proves especially key to bringing this song off. It navigates its way through a handful of dynamic transitions and the production places it in such a way that it primes the song’s dramatic twists. “Puppet Strings” runs a hair less than three and a half minutes, but it feels like a much shorter tune and not to its detriment. Instead, Michelson’s focus keeps things moving forward towards its finish line without any side shows or self-indulgence. She emerges from this single sounding like a veteran artist, yet imbued with a freshness few long time performers and songwriters are able to sustain.
It isn’t necessarily a given that journalism talents translate into a poetic realm, but Michelson’s gifts as a writer are clearly evident in the lyrical content. It is a sharply observed piece tailored to fit the musical framework and these components are in lock step for the entirety of the tune. “Puppet Strings” is an early taste of what we can expect from Michelson’s upcoming debut collection, but it’s likewise an outstanding standalone single that lives up to its billing as a wholly unique musical experience. Her interests are broad, her talents even more so, and she obviously enjoys a connection with her creativity that sets her apart from many of her peers and contemporaries. The elegance and emotive thrust of “Puppet Strings” boasts artistic excellence and potential mainstream appeal quite unlike anything you’ll hear in 2018 and this Russian born artist has a boundless future from this point forward. Journalism’s loss is our gain.
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/alyaunte/
Mindy McCall
