Melissa Carper -- Borned in Ya
Melissa Carper comes from a music-loving family where she was raised on roots music. The family record collection consisted of classics like Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline, Ray Charles, Johnny Cash, and Hank Williams, Sr. And once she made it to college, she was drawn to jazz vocalists like Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. So it’s no surprise that her mixed background of long-time musical influences wholly shines through in Carper’s own unique blend of blues, jazz, R&B, and soul in her latest album, Borned in Ya. which really has a very tactile, timeless sound across each song.
The title track, “Borned in Ya,” really sets the tone of the album. Taking the song (and album) title from an interview that musician Ralph Stanley gave, Carper started on the song a few months after noting the phrase down.“The song evolved as I was writing it to be more about having your soul ‘borned in ya’ the more life experiences that you have and the more you grow–hopefully growing to embody more of the highest version of yourself that you can be.” Carper said. With piano, upright bass, and drums serving as some of the backing for the song, there’s a real sense of Carper’s own story being told as she sings.
And the rest of the album is much the same – offering a sound that’s nostalgic if you’ve listened to mountain music at any point in your life with lyrics that dive into brand new love and emotional turmoil. There’s almost a sense of levity across the album as a whole, even for the more hard-hitting songs like “I Don’t Love You Anymore,” a song that leaves you feeling particularly devastated by the end.
There’s plenty of really “sit down and be in your feelings” songs on Borned in Ya, but Carper also inserts a touch of humor here and there too. One particular standout was “Your Furniture’s Too Nice.” The song laments on homes that are just a little too clean for Carper and her dog with jaunty whistling and lyrics like “Your taste is too refined for me and my doggie / We like the free stuff you find out on the street curb.”
Melissa Carper notes herself that she’s been called both retro and throwback, which are fitting descriptors for sure. That very retro sound was an immediate hook to me personally, reminding me very specifically of summer nights spent listening to classic country and blues music when I was in high school. But even with those throwback comparisons, throughout Borned in Ya, it’s clear that Carper is putting her own spin on classic sounds and digging deep for an album that’s all about life’s journeys. I for one thoroughly enjoyed the meandering trip that Carper takes listeners on.
