Amie Miriello – I Came Around

Album Reviews • Thursday January 8th, 2009 • 12:41 pm

Every few months I have myself an exploratory music session. I start with a song I’m familiar with and then play the Six Degrees game, branching off to explore new artists only based on artistic influences. It can take a while to become completely immersed in the game, but when I do, I invariably discover someone interesting I never would have heard of otherwise.

Amie Miriello is one of those amazing finds I could only thank three post-Christmas beers and three hours of Napster binging for the pleasure of discovering. Her debut album I Came Around, which inexplicably is on the Jive Label (suggesting they intend to market her as a pop star), has the stunning musical assuredness of an artist twice her age. And though the album’s been out three months and has made absolutely no waves in the industry, Amie Miriello deserves to be noticed for her album’s stunning subtlety and incredible beauty.

The leadoff single (and title track) channels Stevie Nicks and Brandi Carlile, and the rest of the album takes the sound of Carlile and blends it with that of Aussie songwriters Kasey Chambers and Missy Higgins, making this album an intriguing hybrid of pop and country with a sharp alternative edge. Standout tracks abound, from the assuredness of “I Came Around” to the artful, addictive bridge of “Coldfront” and beyond, but this is yet another 2008 album which fully deserves the complete album treatment. Amie’s voice has a wind-burnt edge to it which belies her age, but she has a gift for finding a way to put her “deeper than the usual pop song” lyrics to hook-filled melodies, much in the same way Anna Nalick did a few years ago with “Breathe, 2 AM.” So it’s a sound which, though it conflicts with what Jive’s going to want to market as straight pop, still manages to belong even when it sounds intense and original when compared to others in that market.

Amie Miriello’s debut is a rich tapestry of a debut album, something you rarely get to hear these days from an emerging artist. More interesting still is that she’s been signed to a major pop label and is still getting the chance to record the way she wants to record. Though this album has yet to make big waves sales-wise, expect to hear a great deal from this young artist in the future, particularly if her label gives her the financial support to build word-of-mouth the right way – through touring and continued strong songwriting, rather than via “sell this sound quick” promotions. Artists like Brandi Carlile have proven that when an original sound is given a chance to shine fans will find it. If these eleven tracks are any indication, Miriello is a new talent worth keeping a close eye on with an album that has the potential to blow up in 2009. You heard it here first.

Tagged as: singer/songwriter