20 | APRIL 29 - MAY 5, 2022 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM
SONG TO GET YOU THROUGH THE WEEK
LISTEN UP
Anaria singer Jessica Mercy shines on ‘Listen’ Victor D. Infante Worcester Magazine | USA TODAY NETWORK
Sometimes, I'm reminded that the whole concept of musical genres is a bunch of nonsense. I was reminded of this again when I was alerted to “Listen,” the most recent music video from New England vocalist Jessica Mercy. Among her many roles, Mercy is the lead singer of the symphonic metal band Anaria, and she'll also be performing as a solo artist at 10 a.m. May 7 (yes, you read that time right) on the Waltham Common. The performance is part of the opening ceremonies for the Watch City Steampunk Festival, on the Gazebo Stage. Now, symphonic metal is the genre which tends to soak up most of the classically trained vocalists in any given region. It's not surprising to fi nd opera singers who have it as their side gig, or vice versa. Mercy defi nitely fi ts this pattern, but “Listen” was a complete surprise: Stark and emotionally evocative, the song seems – structure and
tone wise – more a contemporary country ballad than it does either metal or classical. And you know what? That's just fi ne, because the song is absolutely gorgeous. “Heart in my throat, words in my head,” sings Mercy, “A sentence undone on a page left unread./Pain in my chest, a numbness inside/Holding every feeling in 'til there's nowhere to hide.” It's spare and lovely, with just a touch of warble in the vocals that lets the song's emotional content shine. When the tone changes on the chorus and she belts out, “If you'd only listen to me,/I think you would fi nd that there's more to see,” the eff ect is palpable. In case you're wondering, while Anaria defi nitely takes on a familiar more rock feel, Mercy's vocals on songs such as “Golden Crowd” are just as beautiful and evocative as they are on “Listen.” Indeed, Mercy seems to be one of those rare vocalists who can sing just about anything, and getting tied up in genre just means you're missing something amazing.
Carlos Odria’s most recent album is “Montuno Negro.” SUBMITTED
Carlos Odria’s latest instrumental album Victor D. Infante Worcester Magazine | USA TODAY NETWORK
Carlos Odria’s music is both meticulously elegant and overfl owing with emotion. It’s a marriage of technique and feeling which is daunting for a humble music critic to approach. It’s easy to feel like one doesn’t have the diction to properly capture the beauty of his Spanish/classical guitar. But endeavor we must, because Odria’s latest eff ort, “Montuno Negro,” is jaw-droppingly beautiful, so much so that it can move a listener to tears. Writes Odria, on the CD cover, “’Montuno Negro (And Other Stories of
Yesterday)’ is a collection of songs that I started to write some 10 years ago. The songs narrate the life and deeds of Montuno Negro, a fi ctional, all-too-real character who never stopped searching for a warm land where he could settle down. He was, by defi nition, a pariah, an untamed force, a montuno who knew only how to dance. This album is an attempt to bring him to life.” Simply put, Odria succeeds at the task, and then some. The album is purely instrumental – just Odria and his guitar, at that – but there is a sense of movement throughout the album See ODRIA, Page 22
Jessica Mercy‘s recent single is “Listen.” PROMOTIONAL PHOTO
