A Crying Hole is another installment
of brilliant alternative pop from Kiwi sensation Melayne
Web. Constructed with layer upon layer of melody &
harmony, this is sure to be a radio smash in New Zealand.
Transcending from Celtic to Middle Eastern in feel, along
with heavy guitars, this is a eerie piece of epic proportions.
Coming on like a cross between
P.J. Harvey and Alanis Morrissette, Melayne's menacing
whispers and spine-tingling vocals, driven along by insistent
keyboards and guitars, deliver an extraordinarily powerful
declaration of personal sovereignty. This is no rape song.
It's much, much more… "MINE" is a forceful
statement of every individual's right to assert themselves
and to resist vigorously any unwanted breach of their
personal or emotional security.
Mine is one of the most challenging
modern rock songs ever delivered to radio by an NZ artist…
"Don't touch me there, That's
mine, my place, Your dirty hands cause you disgrace and
One day I'll get you back"
“Dark/alternative singer-songwriter.”
Melayne Web is marvelous “Neo-Celtic Gothic folk
singer.” “Melayne Web has guts, heart, real
feelings and a great voice. You simply feel everything
in this song and that's a bloody amazing thing to be a
part of.”
“Web has shown that she is
not prepared to simply accept influences, but that she
is determined to stamp her own tunes all over radio.”
“Ranging from a seductive
whisper to an angered rage, ‘Mine’ is a song
that hits you in the face with some pretty harsh lyrics.
More importantly though, it is an absolute kick-ass tune,
totally deserving of every accolade it will no doubt receive.”
“New Zealand radio &
media are starting to wake up to their newest talent.”
“Beautifully disturbed”
“A pianist and singer who
achieves a certain emotional intensity with her
classically-tinged music and her direct, if somewhat unsubtle
and
simplistic, lyrics. The music is arranged well, especially
the interplay
between the piano and the guitars.”
Melayne Web's 25-year existence
has, up until now, been far from that of a famous pop
star. A pleasant enough life, sure, but nothing too extraordinary.
Yet this woman has done something quite astonishing.
Three years ago, with a strong
sense of determination, Web wrote her first solo album,
White Lament. The self-funded disc should be due for release
within the next six months, after she finishes negotiating
a record contract. How this happened is a testament to
good old fashioned rock values - fuck the record companies
and get it out there independently.
Only things are a little different
these days. Gone are the trials of breaking your latest
song onto student radio and hoping like hell some record
exec might stumble across it. Much easier to simply upload
your tracks to the internet, more often than not via MP3.
Voila! A worldwide audience at the click of your mouse
and it doesn't cost you a thing. Melayne Web had no good
reason to think her rock track 'Mine' would be particularly
big. She was hoping, but the whole thing seemed a bit
random: faceless tracks thrown into a computer system
where artist recognition is often a low priority.
In the interim, she sang a track
for obscure band Meatwear and bummed around at home in
Wellington's Island Bay. Then, she was shocked to find
that 'Mine' had spent seven weeks at number one and over
two months in the top ten on Australian-based website
mp3.com.au (the equivalent to US mammoth mp3.com). "It
actually struck me as quite brilliant. Here I was getting
all this publicity and hype on the internet without realising
it." Of course, you don't retire back to a lazy beachside
existence after this sort of exposure. It's time to work!
"Yeah, it was a bit like that. I know I've got the talent.
It was just a matter of travelling to really make it happen."
The first trip was to Toronto,
where she scored "such an amazing deal I'm not even going
to tell you" with producer Iain McPherson, whose credits
include Nine Inch Nails, U2 and Public Enemy. He was good,
accomplishing "in three hours what would take other people
days", providing skills that just aren't on offer in New
Zealand.
Although she composes and plays
many instruments in her songs, she was also on the hunt
for session musicians while in America. Unbelievably,
she stumbled across Prakash John - bass player for Lou
Reed, George Clinton and James Brown. A man so humble
he asked Web to come and see him play live, to see if
she thought he was good enough. After an emphatic "yes
please", Prakash skipped out of a school PTA meeting early
in order to go and jam with her. "We were just messing
round and then he started playing the bass to 'Walk on
the Wild Side'. I almost fainted."
Of course, you don't just record
an album and leave it at that. There's the music video
to think about, which Web says was "fun". And then, strangely
enough, back to Wellington to hang out with friends and
come back to earth. What now? Oh, there's the small matter
of a huuuuuuuge international contract looming (probably
signed by the time LOOP hits the streets) that has her
buzzing. With whom she won't say. "I think I scare record
companies a little. You know they put me into this Tori
Amos category and it's all a bit contrived, but I'm determined
to get a company that respects me." In turn she's been
taken aback by the number of people who've claimed inspiration
from her songs.
'Mine' may haunt her fans, many
of whom think it's about rape, but she says it's about
celebration and inspiration rather than any sense of melancholy.
Wary that no one paid her any attention before she got
a name for herself, she's purposefully not rushing into
anything. She's also in the curious position, after signing
a contract, of probably having to ditch MP3 in order to
sell physical CDs. "Who knows what will happen. With Warner
and AOL merging, record stores are getting a bit paranoid.
But I think there will always be that demand there. People
like to touch CDs and listen to them on good sound." As
for her own future, it's time to properly exploit the
big break. "I feel I've been given this huge chance which
is very gratifying. But I know there's a hard slog of
touring, promoting and being treated like a guinea pig
for a while. I just want to spread my music as far as
it can go." Watch this space.
By Perry Willliams
Loop Magazine
Feb/March 2000
I got a call about three months
ago from a friend of Melayne Web, telling me the singer/songwriter
is something else, and I should really write an article
about her. No problem, I replied, send me some stuff.
The material duly arrived, one thing led to another, and
I never got round to doing anything about the tip.
Then last week I picked up the
Evening Post, as you do when you're having a coffee in
Auckland after 5.3opm, and there she was, Melayne Web,
all hair and smiles and waving a cornet. Her first single,
"Mine", had just gone to number one on MP3.COM.AU, the
Australian version of the digital music mecca. Bugger,
I said, because it's no longer a swear word, I should've
got on to that. Next morning, there it was again in the
Herald. same story, different picture, more feelings of
scooped by the dinosaur press.
That day I got another call, this
time from Melayne herself. She was in town; did I have
a spare half-hour for a chat? You bet I did. That's how
I ended up looking out the window on the top floor of
one of Auckland's few remaining old buildings, watching
as Melayne and local producer to the stars (is that a
True Bliss picture hanging on the wall?) does something
incomprehensible but no doubt vitally important to a piano
track. They're working on her forthcoming album, White
lament due for release early next year.
The album has got to this stage
thanks to late night recording sessions during downtime
at a Wellington studio. The tracks that get laid down
in this session (as they say in the trade) are going with
Melayne to 'Canada, where uber-producer lain McPherson
(U2, Public Enemy, Nine Inch Nails) will add his knob-twiddling
wisdom to the mix. What happens next is anyone's guess,
but the signs are all looking good.
Melayne's first single, "Mine"
was still at number 1 as this went to press, some four
weeks after it was posted. While top ten status on MP3
site doesn't necessarily mean big sales (the charts reflect
the number of times the song is listened to, not downloaded,
as downloads are free anyway) the number one achievement
is still a great line for an aspiring musician to have
on her CV. It's also a very nice buzz. 'I was stoked"
says Melayne, looking over her shoulder at the mixing
desk. I got a call from the Managing Director of the site,
and he told me I had got to number one. It was a beautiful
feeling'. I bet. And to make the feeling even sweeter,
the song was Melayne's first ever recording.It was made
after a childhood obsession with music (she was singing
and playing the piano by ear at the age of 5) developed
into a raging passion.
On White Lament she wrote the music
and lyrics, performed vocals and harmonies, played piano,
organ, clavichord and cornet and wrote and arranged parts
for cello, violin, oboe, vibraphone, bass guitars and
drums. Not surprisingly, she doesn't play out much. 'My
music is quite difficult to put together live' she says.
'Oboes, cellos, violins live drum loops, organs, harpsichords...
and for some of my songs the piano is syncopated totally
opposite to what the vocals are doing'. I nod in understanding
although I have absolutely no idea what she's talking
about. But she seems to know her stuff, so I let it go.
Back to the, um, web. What's been
the response to having the song on the MP3.com.au homepage?
'Brilliant. I get fan mail from all around the world,
people who have gone in there, locked at the page, downloaded
the song, and have gone 'Wow, we want a copy of the album,
how much money do you want?' I'm going to utilize the
Internet fully, providing there is total copyright".
As well as the Internet support,
Melayne has local radio, particularly Wellington's Active,
right behind her. 'Active are way cool. Make sure that
goes in the article. I just love their attitude towards
music, they cater for everyone'. I'm quickly forming an
impression here.
If sheer tenacity and spirit count
for anything (and they do), this woman could go all the
way. Taking sheer talent and turning it into an album,
devoting a year of weekends to get the thing recorded
cheap, saving the cash needed for studio time in Auckland,
getting to Canada... how does she do it? 'I don't know,
I guess I'm pretty focused' she understates. 'I just keep
doing it, I can't possibly stop. I'm self-managed because
I like it that way, and it is a lot of hard work, so maybe
that will change, who knows. But I'm just getting started
you know, this is my debut we're working on here. Anything
could happen!
Stephen Adams
(with major input from Ian Jones) Lava Magazine
November 1999
New Zealand Herald
With that name she has to be a
hit!
A Wellington musician named Web
has a No 1 hit on the web. For the past 3 weeks 25-year-old
Melayne Web's song Mine has been the most popular track
copied from Australian-based site www.mp3.com.au.
The site is linked to the American-based
site www.mp3.com, one of the most popular sites on the
Web. Musicians place a recording on the site, which Internet
users can listen to and copy free-of-charge using the
MP3 format. Web, who has had only one song released, on
a New Zealand On Air compilation, said she could not believe
she was No 1 when a representative of the Website contacted
her. "I was up in Auckland recording. I didn't think it
was that much of a big deal.
Then he rattled off the number
of artists on the site who have sold a quarter of a million
albums. I said, 'Oh my God." Web said she did not make
any money from people copying the song, which she described
as up-tempo alternative rock. But it was an easy way to
promote her work. She had recorded an album's worth of
songs which would be mixed in Canada next month, but had
yet to find a distributor. Getting to No 1 on the Internet
site would help.
Tom Cardy
New Zealand Herald
New Zealand Press Association
Evening Post
October 1999
If Melayne Web has her way, hers
is a name you will soon be hearing a lot of. Her first
single, Mine, is being targeted at radio stations around
the country this month and Wellington based Melayne is
expecting it to cause quite a stir. She describes it as
an 'explicit' and controversial song and says she is looking
forward to hearing what people make of it. "I can't wait
for the psychoanalysis to start!"
Songs from her demo album are already
receiving airplay on Wellington student station Active
and shy says she has been getting a good response - even
if people do misunderstand her lyrics. "A lot of people
think Mine is about rape or sexual abuse, which it isn't,
but if someone thinks it is about that and it helps them
in some way then I don't mind."
Melayne says she prefers to leave
it up to people to decide what her lyrics are about rather
then spelling it our for them. "In some ways I feel I'm
putting my soul on a platter, surrounding it with caviar
and saying 'bon appetite'. I've given so much of myself
away that I want to keep something for myself."
Melayne says all her songs contain
challenging lyrics. Melayne plays the piano, clavichord
and cornet on the album as well as writing and arranging
parts for the oboe, flute, vibraphone and strings. She
also programmed the drum parts and arranged guitar and
bass parts. Talking to Melayne you feel you are dealing
with someone who is confident, uncompromising and ready
to take on the mantle of the Alanis of Aotearoa with glee.
If you don't hear her name in the near future, I get the
feeling she will shout it out until you do.
"An exceptional new talent!! Melayne
has that certain something. I was immediately struck by
the power and range of Melayne's voice and the well-crafted
quality of her songs. Her music combines sensual, thought
provoking lyrics, skillfully laid over a variety of rhythms
and beats and her keyboard playing adds a beautiful and
melodic dimension to her songs.This is a young woman,
who sounds like she has had lots of experience at song
writing and recording, yet this was her first time in
the studio. I look forward to discovering more of what
Melayne can do"
"Melayne Web's music is compatible
with and she has the potential to succeed in the North
American Market. Melayne's songwriting and musicianship
skills are consistently expanding"
