imagine_stars's Full Review: Unfold by Mari? Digby
Marie Digby has been around for a little while, but she owes most of her fame to YouTube and Pantene Pro-V.
The 26-year-old singer/songwriter supposedly has more YouTube subscribers than several of her better-known counterparts, including Taylor Swift. Her song Miss Invisible won her the Pantene Pro-Voice contest back in 2004--and the chance to work with a producer.Though she had a record deal in 2005, it wasn't until 2007 that she began posting covers of other people's songs in order to gain some internet visibility. And the trick worked. The girl with the magical voice is beginning to climb out of obscurity and on to mainstream radio (and TV soundtracks--the big bonus!).
Her stuff falls into the pop/rock category: music sounding like that of Michelle Branch, (mostly) insightful (if a little boy-crazy) lyrics a la Sara Bareilles, and a voice that fans of Missy Higgins or Tristan Prettyman will latch onto. So, basically, fresh and pop-y enough to appeal to the middle school crowd, yet smart and playful enough to stick around for the college-to-thirty-some set. At times overly glossy, the album Unfold is really set apart by a few soft, raw songs. These are the moments when Marie seems most genuine, and they nicely balance an otherwise radio-ready glistening-semi-rock-edging-into-bubble-gum territory. (Wow, did I really just hyphenate nine words in a row? Sorry about that.)
Granted, Marie's songs can become indistinguishable from one another, and the album doesn't quite live up to its potential--but it's promising. In some ways, it sounds like something that would've been big in the late 90's/early 2000's when Michelle Branch, Vanessa Carlton, and Avril Lavigne were beginning to take over the airwaves. Obviously, there are major distinctions, but I could see Marie carving a little niche there.
Not bad for a first CD.
The twelve-song set begins with Fool, the sassy post-breakup song that simultaneously blames herself for falling in love with a dumb guy while blaming him for falling in love with her. That leads into the bright, early-Mandy Moore-esque Better Off Alone, a sweetly self-deprecating, I'll-get-out-of-your-way-now song.
Say It Again is Digby's first single, and portions are eerily similar to Ashlee Simpson's Pieces of Me. (At first, I kept combining them in my head: "Say it again for me/'I like the way that feels.")
Miss Invisible is really where Marie hits her stride, and it's no wonder this tune was the one to pull in cash prizes and a record deal. Lush, driven by soft piano, Miss Invisible chronicles the story of a young girl who sits by herself every day, ridiculed by others in her class despite her attempts to fit in. This song outshines everything else on the record by about ten miles. Unless you're not into slow, touching songs. (I had an old roommate who would've complained because you can't dance to this! But honestly, I think most women can resonate with the lyrics.) Besides that, Marie's voice is touched with a delicate honesty that, unfortunately, gets processed out of the rest of the songs. If it weren't for this song, I think my overall enjoyment of the album would go down about 70%. I'll let you decide whether that's a good or bad thing for Marie. :)
Stupid for You and Girlfriend retread the same pattern, content-wise and sound-wise. Except that one's about falling hopelessly and stupidly in love, and the other's about avoiding a relationship because "I don't wanna talk about my feelings" and all those other trappings of love. Traffic lingers in familiar territory as well (read: which song is which?!), while Voice on the Radio ventures out a little more boldly. Notice I said "a little." Here, Marie is again confessing her love--this time to a singer she has never met.
Spell goes into Evanescence mode, with some gloomier piano and more organic vocals. This, along with the final three songs, ventures into Vanessa-Carlton-land: the wistful Beauty in Walking Away; the empowering Unfold; and the world's-most-annoying-song-turned-halfway-decent, Umbrella. Yes, I do mean Rihanna's Umbrella, the one with the obnoxious chorus of "You can stand under my umbrella ella ella/eh eh eh." In Marie's hands, accompanied by guitar, it's actually kind of enjoyable. Not lyrically brilliant by any means, but easier to listen to, anyway.
As I said earlier, Marie isn't really breaking new ground with her music, but she has put together a collection of catchy tunes. Unfold could probably be the soundtrack to a high school girl's life, and it wouldn't surprise me in the least if her music starting showing up more often in movies geared toward teens. I'd like to see her digging deeper lyrically, pushing into the insightful, storytelling voice that emerges during Miss Invisible.
For what it's worth, I'm not gonna toss out bonus points quite yet. I like what Marie is showing me, and I like to shove this into my CD player when I'm driving on a sunny day or working on an art project. Top ten hit list it is not. Yet. But I think Marie's going places.
(I was going to bump it up to four stars for Miss Invisible alone...but then I realized that when I try to hum the remaining songs, I can only do a few bars before they all jumble together. I guess I'm waiting for more impact. Three stars will have to do for now.)
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