Comes now Bonnie McKee and her two singles, "Trouble" and "Somebody," leading off her not-yet-released debut album Trouble. The nineteen-year-old Seattlite has been singing publicly since the age of five and writing songs since she was twelve. She also got a huge boost from being cast as the young Janis Joplin in NBC's series American Dreams.
But she's not an actress; she's a musician who got a nice acting job. And that much is obvious when you hear "Trouble" and "Somebody." Bonnie McKee is not a teen-fluff fashion doll. She's a major talent who knows how to make music that'll hit you where you live.
If you told me Laura Nyro had written "Trouble" in 1968, I'd believe you. It's that same sort of lowering, threatening, literate bluesy pop that Nyro dealt in. The song, which McKee wrote when she was sixteen, is brilliant both musically and lyrically. She's got a knack for internal rhyme. "It was a cold October night/It was a far from sober night" she sings as she begins her tale of falling for a dangerous man. "I gave you the one thing I can never retrieve/And now you're leaving my heart bleeding in my hands"--look, you've pretty much got to be about Bonnie McKee's age to get away with singing those words, and even then, they're still full of danger. But the way McKee almost strangles the words in her throat, it's clear that she's not singing about a girl in trouble--she's singing about a girl who's getting ready to cause a little trouble herself. (And hey, there's that internal rhyme again, too.) The production adds some slinky percussion and the best flute sample since the Beastie Boys' "Sure Shot" to the mix, keeping the song moving forward.
Meanwhile, out in Hollywood, they've discovered the touching ballad "Somebody" and used it in the movie Win A Date With Tad Hamilton. On this song McKee narrows her focus to one of those impossibly lonely weekend nights when you're not sure if you're missing somebody or just the idea of somebody--but it really doesn't matter which, since all you can think about is your own pain. She goes through the motions of trying to carry on with life, but there's no relief. Again, she's skating into dangerous territory--only about a billion sappy "woe is me, I'm alone" songs have been written, and most of them are terrible.
Article comments
1 - Adam
Excellent article, very well written. I got my copy of the album yesterday, and absolutely love it.
For more on Bonnie McKee, including her new media player, and street team, go to http://www.bonniemckee.tk