Review of Lady Millea’s “I Don’t Mind Missing You”
I dutifully listened to Lady Millea’s CD I Don’t Mind Missing You (Reconcile Records) when I received a copy, and I wasn’t planning to do so ever again. Then a few weeks later I got the promotional material: “We’re confident her heart-melting voice combining poignant purity with a sultry sophistication something akin to ‘Sarah Vaughan meets Karen Carpenter’ will redefine the current musical standard for unassuming elegance. Sprinkle it all with the mystique of a gracious, almost other-worldly ‘angel on assignment’ and you have a sonic masterpiece fit to entertain and enthrall, as well as elevate, enrich and enlighten everyone from plain folks to the most discriminating connoisseurs.”
Um, did someone slip the new Veronica Swift album into this writer’s CD jacket? I wasn’t going to give this below-average album a review, but hype like this cannot be allowed to stand unchallenged. Millea has a pleasant enough breathy voice, and she mostly stays in tune, but she’s in no way ready for the big time. There’s nothing distinctive or memorable about her straightforward phrasing or approach. The nine songs on this debut album were written, arranged, and produced by her father, J. Frederick Millea (a.k.a. L.A. Cowboy, also releasing a new and better album at the same time). The songs are sometimes clever, but generally they’re standard-issue love songs that don’t fully commit to either jazz or folksy pop.
Millea is effusive with her praise of the competent band in the liner notes. “It was amazing to watch the rhythm section play together through each song one time while essentially improvising the organic sound.” Well, that’s what jazz musicians do. Even more embarrassing is her unsexy burlesque on “Hold Me,” complete with calling her keyboardist “boy,” oblivious to the meaning of that in jazz history.
One final snark: if the cover represents a new fashion trend, Heaven help us.
