She can just as easily write a slow, torch song type ballad as she can an upbeat rocker or a gospel tinged spiritual. But what's truly impressive is the emotion contained within the song and the intelligence in the lyrics. Her song "One Of Many" is a perfect example of this and also a great example of her maturity as a performer.
The song talks about a young woman from an abusive home that's forced out onto the streets at the age of sixteen and into a lifestyle that will kill her quick. Not satisfied with just pointing out the obvious, Gina describes the girl's emotional and physiological decline in language that's as precise as a surgeon's scalpel. She never trivializes the subject and at the same time keeps it real and never allows it to become sentimental drivel.
That's where her skill and confidence as a performer comes in. A lot of young performers would be tempted to wring as much emotion out of a song as they could with their voices. Instead Ms. Sicilia trusts the power of the words to be able to speak for themselves and doesn't resort to histrionics to "sell" it.
She obviously trusts her voice as much as she trusts her lyrics because there is hardly ever an occasion where she sounds as if she's forcing the issue. Emotions occur naturally and without effort as she allows herself to respond seemingly intuitively to the message behind the lyrics.
When the mood of the song is playful, like "I Ain't Crazy", you can hear a sense of mischief coming out as she runs through the reasons why we should consider her sane despite the song's evidence to the contrary. She also show she has the ability to growl out a good time on the old Etta James number "Pushover" where she not only captures the spirit of the original but puts her own spark into it.
Her voice seems most comfortable in the lower registers, and is far more emotionally sincere when she works down there, but she is also able to utilize the upper end of her range to good effect as a counterpoint. This added dimension allows her the ability to have more than one way to make an emotional impression on the listener and increases the impact and strength of individual titles when she uses it judiciously.
Article comments
1 - Michael J. West
I've always wondered how a twentysomething musician could legitimately sing the Blues?
Robert Johnson was 25 when he made his first records....
:-)