Here’s a record about which I’m having a lot of trouble identifying my feelings. It’s called Queens Die Proudly and it comes from Juliette Commagere.
On one hand, it’s got plenty of elements it’s a little hard to respect: ranging from a sort of Kate Bush on Lilith Fair amalgamation of synths and halfway constructed pop hooks (“Everything I Love”) to a track which was perfectly described by Stytzer as “so grandiose that it almost becomes conceited in a Meat Loaf kind of way” (“Overcome”) to the I-don’t-even-know what’s happening of the title track. Throw in a few silky pop ballads of varying quality and you’ve got a record that doesn’t seem particularly impressive.
The thing is, while I feel a little bit torn about whether I ought to like some of these songs, I find myself continually drawn back, particularly to the epic, thoroughly over-the-top, endlessly perplexing, but absolutely glorious majesty of “Overcome.” It draws you in completely and it’s only afterward that you reflect a little bit about the underlying silliness. But really, life is all about a series of moments, so why let a better judgment informed by distance and social mores interfere with such a stupendous song?
Overcome – Juliette Commagere