Madison Ryann Ward has a beautiful voice and can count on Mother Nature’s best physical assets – and perhaps a touch of plastic surgery. Madison’s hits are certainly not for nothing on FIJM’s largest outdoor stage… despite the insistent rain on a Saturday, June 29.
Madison sings smoothly, her mezzo voice subscribing to all the vocal standards of feminine soul pop. A luxurious bandana covers her golden hair, a minimalist tattoo appears on her forearm, and our luxury gypsy wears chic clothes.
Madison can count on a top-notch black band to serve up silky, elegant soul, quiet storm, with a hint of jazz in the harmonies. So far, so good, right ? Behind this apparent perfection, there’s a certain retreat from the vulnerability and viscerality essential to vocal expression. Soul, quiet storm, pop, a hint of jazz… a little out of her depth… Madison seems to remain suspended in her own halo. Fortunately, she manages to break this impression a little when she starts rapping.
Alicia Creti doesn’t sound and look like that at all. A Montrealer relocated to Los Angeles, she’s the girl-next-door with a secure career and a toxic relationship to migrate to California, become a professional singer and heal her wounds. You’ll understand that the emotional burden is not the same. Less aesthetic, less sexy, much more visceral;
Alicia Creti is a contralto of power whose timbre electrocutes and tears. She recently released Selfless, an album that sums up and expresses her situation well. It’s not yet a real hit, which justifies a performance on the small FIJM stage, but it’s definitely pop, it’s soul pop, nothing rocket science, predictable forms, a competent band as it should be, a tad rough around the edges on stage but… so credible, so true.
