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Hilary McRae - Through These Walls

May 8th, 2008

by Bambi Weavil

HIlary McRae album cover

Official Site: http://www.hilarymcrae.com/

Official MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/hilarymcrae

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnqcNa-dslc

Being a infrequent Starbucks goer, I had never heard of Hilary McRae, but she’s a 21-year old talented singer/songwriter from Florida who has a retro, mature spice with a contemporary pop/retro R&B sound that makes her Through These Walls release from Hear Music extremely enjoyable. Hilary has a tremendous amount of soul in her work, and at times, she reminds me of Maroon Five, a more contemporary Michael Bublé and John Mayer with a heavy horn accompaniment.

“Every Day (When Will You Be Mine)” sounds so different than any song on this album, to the point that I thought she sounded androgynous. This will be a extremely pop-friendly hit for McRae and proof that any genre could sing this song and make it affective. “Consider Me Gone” is where I can start to hear the power of her soul and where I start to feel comfortable. “Why Can’t Now” is a song where you have to remind yourself that she is 21 years old with a vocal talent well beyond her years. McRae has a great gift with how she can vocally build masterpieces without losing her vulnerability or believability. I enjoy when she tackles the more jazz-side of her versatile voice.

“Hostage” is sizzling with a lot of possibilities, and she should consider releasing this quickly, to take advantage of the easy-going summer releases. Hilary proves she can sing a piano pop ballad with “Like You Never Loved Me”, but it’s weaker in comparison to her talents of being a heavy hitter in the jazz/R&B-styling. I love the self-affirming freedom of “Better Off Alone”, and again, she shows off her maturity with the no non-sense jazz styling of “Let’s Stop” about being yourself instead of someone else to impress someone in a relationship.

“Waiting” is one pop song that could define Hilary McRae’s pop star status as well as her strength as a versatile songwriter and is a must hear even though the lyric says “I can’t even tell you, but I’m guessing / You probably don’t even like this song.” Not only do I like this song, but I like Hilary McRae and this fun debut album.