California by Arielle – Exposed Vocals Music Review

Arielle is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist hailing from New Jersey. Having become a virtuoso guitarist (and garnering praise from her idol Brian May) and performer, she played in heavy metal bands but could never find a singer. Eventually, she started singing herself, though this track, California, could not be further away from heavy metal.

The song is just finger-picked acoustic guitar and Arielle’s voice, which suits the material perfectly. It is perhaps more difficult for a simple acoustic song to make an immediate impression, but the lilting vocal melody soon sticks in the head. She has an expressive, emotional vocal delivery with a huge range and it is hard to imagine she was once reluctant to sing.

Lyrically, it is as beautifully crafted as the rest of the song, the subject being the pursuit of success and the difficulty of realizing your dreams. “I’m trading scars for a concrete star and I can’t find the sunshine in California….” runs the memorable, melodic chorus. She gets to display her virtuosity with some gorgeous lead guitar work that is tastefully deployed throughout, with the Brian May influence clearly manifest.

Overall, this song has real commercial potential, perfect for radio, and provided it gets enough exposure its hard to see how it will not become a big success. This particular genre is extremely popular at the moment, so I don’t think Arielle need to worry about whether she will make it for too much longer. Furthermore, on this evidence, I think she will be around for a long time to come.

By Alex Faulkner