Singer-songwriter Maricelle Wong shares with us her thoughts on fellow singer-songwriters…

Jillian Marie Ambrose is a singer songwriter from Kansas, whose music is sombre like Christina Perri, yet has a slight pop-country vibe to the guitars, and about teenage love. With her album starting with “ever changing heart”, her album is full of love songs, reminiscent of Taylor Swift’s many teenage love songs, and some covers.

With her simple acoustic songs, her songs are easy to listen to. Simple themes and straightforward lyrics keep the songs light. She’s got a babyface, blonde curls, and her voice is easy to hear, fronting the gentle background piano, and I like that she writes and composes her songs.

She reminds me of Nelly Furtado, sometimes more nasal when she sings, seeming to strain her high notes in “Heartless” which is less flattering. Thankfully, the next song “Little Red” has a catchy line – ‘take a jump and have faith in love’. “Right Left Now” is more upbeat, along with ‘Black and Blue’ that’s higher pitched, refreshing and crisp. I don’t like her cover of “use somebody” as much because she sounds flat at points, which is jarring. The album ends off with “Let me down easy” which is a relief to the cover, and produced much better. This song has her cooing about a dream-boy, and asking if he’ll treat her well. A nice theme, the slightly country riff is a nice way to end it off.

Her image of the slinky dress doesn’t fit her music though, her picture on her facebook page better represents her, in my opinion. =) (MW)

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