Showing its face in 1998, Michelle Lewis' "Little Leviathan" was a bit late to ride the coattails of similar female singer/songwriters exploding at the time. Her effort is not as immediately accessible, and understandably could not beat the heavy competition from the likes of Jewel, Joan Osbourne, Tracy Bonham, Meredith Brooks, and ... oh the list seems endless. The fad died out of course, but here we are ten years later seeing it rise again (e.g. Sara Bareilles, Colbie Caillat).
Listening to this release with fresh ears, I find it has aged well. Michelle Lewis was a victim of bad timing and could have made bigger waves had the music scene not already been overcrowded with every label's copycat artist. While "Little Leviathan" has its share of filler, and Michelle Lewis does not have the range of someone like Jewel, she holds her own and delivers some tracks that are certainly worthy of some space on the iPOD. Her vocal style is more like Shawn Mullins, doing a spoken word thing in the verses of many tunes, and singing to a melodic chorus. Lyrically she is fairly interesting, touching on topics most 20-something girls could relate to. Sonically, the record sounds great, no doubt due to the contributions of the capable Tom Lord-Alge.
Michelle Lewis is still working in the music business, writing songs for others and performing on her own. Recently, she's teamed up with another 90s hitmaker, Kay Hanley (Letters to Cleo), to form The Dilettantes, touching on topics most 30-somethings can relate to.
iPOD-worthy: 1, 2, 4, 6, 7
Michelle Lewis - official site.
The Dilettantes on MySpace.
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