Lea Michele, 27-year-old Golden Globe and Emmy nominated singer/actress and Broadway star, has become even popular in recent years through her lead role on FOX’s Glee. Her latest achievement is the Feb. 28 release of her debut album, Louder, which was written by Sia and co-produced by Stargate and Dr. Luke’s protege, Benny Blanco. Although Lea unfortunately disappoints, the album was a brave step outside of her comfort zone and genuinely reflects of her state of mind following the death of boyfriend Cory Monteith.
True to its name, Louder is mostly a compilation of ballads in which Michele’s normally powerhouse, Broadway-esque voice shouts and yells more than it sings. The album fails to showcase her authentic, phenomenal talent. The music throughout the album is simplistic, which only serves to tone up Lea’s shouting, rather than meshing with her overwhelming voice or toning it down. Ironically, most listeners will find themselves turning the volume down while they listen to this album.
Most of her fans were expecting ballads — probably with that one amazing note thrown in there somewhere — but Michele’s songs are more than cliché. None of them are memorable in the way that good music is, especially not the debut single, “Cannonball,” which she released prior to the album.
The one redeeming song on the album is “If You Say So:”
“It’s been seven whole days, seven whole days since you paralyzed me,” Michele sings.
The song, written by Michele, tells the story of her last conversation with Monteith and shares her current feelings with as much honesty as one can muster. This snippet of a conversation Michele’s fans are now privy to is haunting because it is relatable to everyone who has ever loved deeply. The final words they exchanged are words we have all exchanged with someone at some point, and there is something heart-wrenching about that realization.
Throughout this song, Michele even admits to her anger with Monteith, whose highly publicized death was a result of a drug overdose.
In one line, Michele asks him, “How could you leave me this way?”
“If You Say So,” clearly a love letter to Monteith, is by far the most emotional song on the album. The lyrics are honest, relatable, touching, beautiful and devastating all at the same time.
Although many reviewers have been quick to label Louder as a failure of an album, it has a way of conveying sincerity in all of its imperfection. Perhaps Michele fails to properly move her audience, but she is more than just a celebrity. She is simply young and human. After all, she just lost her best friend. Her album and its incredibly simple, nonspecific lyrics, sound like layers of pain and confusion rather than understanding, colored by irrationality rather than vulnerability. Even so, all of the elements of her music reflect what she was going through during the time that this album was created and released. Louder opens with the word “breakdown,” perhaps signifying the ways in which the rest of the album would tell the story of the way her experiences broke her apart.
On TV, Michele’s large, innocent, brown eyes help to balance out her singing voice, which reaches unimaginable heights; she does not have this advantage on her album. It has long been suggested that her talent — much of which is inherent in her actual performances — is best suited either for the stage and the screen as opposed to the world of music alone. Her voice, this album reveals, is even less suited for pop songs, in which her rather formal, old voice sounds at odds with the fun, young beats to which she sings.
Many of the ballads on this album begin with a soft sound but then dive into a characteristic Lea Michele chorus that can only be described as “wailing,” but in a way this is appropriate, as the entire album, composed of songs that did not really go well together, is a painful release of emotions for this jaded artist — a reflection of her turbulent state of mind and heart. The most extreme song on the album, “Burn With You,” conveys her preference to burn in hell with her love, rather than enter heaven upon her own death.
Since Michele is so experienced in the world of entertainment, it can only be assumed that she chose to release these songs despite their many apparent flaws. Perhaps this album was more for her than it was for anyone else. However, although this motivation is probable, she has failed to start off her singing career (separate from acting) with the proper “bang” that many of her fans expected.
Had the album been released prior to Monteith’s death, it would have been extremely different, and fans’ expectations would have been completely different. Her song choices might have been more pleasing to listeners and more beneficial to her career, and fans might not have expected some kind of emotional journey to occur throughout the album, resulting in the right amount of tears at the right moments.
The timing of this album’s release most definitely affected how well-received it was, or in this case, how it was not particularly well received.
