It’s amazing the artistic heights Danielle Miraglia has reached since she entered the greater-Boston singer-songwriter scene back around the year 2000. Her latest CD, Glory Junkies, is certainly her most self-aware CD. She sounds emboldened by her past successes in the recording studio, having a stronger than ever command of all the elements she has always relied on, rock and roll, blues, gospel, worldly lyrics, and her innate singer-songwriter sensibilities.
Danielle Miraglia kicks off her new disc with “Dead End Street.” Owing to her bluesy inflection, there is a twinge of gospel flavoring that makes this song, along with its hip rhythm section and tense viola, something that tugs the ear. It’s a song that makes you feel something in the depth of the voice and soulful melody. It’s also a promising start to the entire Glory Junkies CD.
“Coffee Stained Thank You Cards” has a touch of sarcastic wit in its lyrics. Miraglia waltzes over a persistent groove and alongside a sly, rustic viola line. Her voice here milks the meaning out of each lyric as she moves over them with a knowing, spiritual sensitivity. It’s like she needs to take her time with this one and that easeful pace allows her to savor her song. Her support players weave a fine tangle of viola, groove, and soulful backing vocals.
Title track “Glory Junky” is a catchy, winsome tune. Miraglia, worldly wise as ever, belts her chorus about people who hang onto past glories with a mix of perception and compassion. She makes this one move forward with an emotive oomph as she sings of quiet despair. Gruff lead guitar phrasing graces this one with its tonal fibre and chord progression, sounding like a second bark of support for the people who crave attention. There’s a smoldering saxophone line too, one that flavors this tune with an emotive cry.
“Carmella” rides in on a cushion of soft organ soul and rides out leaving tears in the listener’s eyes. It’s uncanny how Miraglia can dig deep into the emotional core of people’s lives to find their true, often tortured stories. Lyrically focused on a mentally ill woman, this song tugs the heartstrings when it conjures images of intense personal struggle, isolation, and deep emotional commitment. Miraglia injects another layer of emotion by using a measure of self-restraint in her vocal approach. Full of feeling but never belting, Miraglia brings a fine voice to the narrative arc.
The most winsome track on this CD is “Left Hand Turn,” a witty take on a traffic mishap and metaphor for some kind of family trauma. A catchy, hummable chorus, a gutsy honky tonky vocal, and bluesy underpinnings from a Michael Bergeman accordion make this a fun weave to follow and sing along to. This could go straight to Adult Contemporary radio stations.
“Heat Of The Win” focuses on the hopes people place on local baseball teams and the hopes they put on better opportunities. Yes, Miraglia uses another metaphor. She sings this one in a quiet, almost whispery, approach to stay out of the way of the mournful beauty of what was hoped for and what was lost. Laurence Scudder’s forlorn, haunting viola melody wafts in the background, offering an extra emotional texture to this song that uncannily mixes hope with loss to arrive at an intriguing study of human ambivalence.
Miraglia’s penchant for blues pays off when she belts “Tear It Down.” Her saucy attitude and honky tonk rasp make this song come alive with urgent stride. Cheryl Arena’s thick, wafting harmonica lines surround Miraglia’s gutsy mama vocal with a layer of earthy, dire atmosphere. Miraglia is no slouch either on acoustic blues guitar. She delivers this one with a large, mighty, punchy strum.
“Warning Fair Warning” quaintly borrows images from TV and Hollywood intrigue to make a point about personal insecurity. That life is full of disappointments isn’t the issue here as much as how the singer-songwriter takes it all to heart. Miraglia finesses well her cutesy lyrics about self-consciousness and self-destruction. Guitarist Bob Enik presses out a fine, thin melodic line after some ear candy horn shots from Paul Ahlstrand’s saxophone and Scott Aruda’s trumpet. This tune is another possible radio hit for Miraglia. Catchy and winsome, it’s also something listeners can easily identify with.
“Famous For Nothing” as can be guessed takes aim at those who are famous for being famous. Yet, Miraglia adds a playful bite to her attacks, using wit and graveyard images to highlight the lameness of the trend and trains to illustrate how we‘re all along for the ride with nowhere to retreat to. Wisely, she keeps it broad, open to interpretation which vain, self-appointed celebrities she’s protesting. This catchy anthem is one most intelligent people in the 21st century will readily agree with. Special for its wit and delivery, Miraglia caresses her lyrics with something sweet, a soft, silky smooth touch that slides over this sly social commentary.
Miraglia closes out her CD with “Pigeons,” a somber look at life after one’s dream has passed one by. Singing that most people are more like pigeons staying home for winter and less the soaring eagles they see themselves as, she arrives at a dark truth about human existence. If we strive for, reach for something lofty, we’ll never be fully satisfied if we don’t achieve it. Yet, this singer-songwriter somehow makes it feel all right, just another facet of life to live with. Her solo acoustic guitar parses it down to something sublimely beautiful.
Miraglia has risen to a higher level of expression on this gospel flavored Glory Junkies CD. She has a greater command of the singer-songwriter tools she has always used and reflects a stronger knowledge of roots influences.
http://www.daniellem.com/music
