| Since these writers are theater folk, and the material was developed theatrically, I trust we can discuss the score here. So far, from the first two numbers, I'm not hearing Moulin Rouge. The first two songs released have that "behind the closing credits" wall of sound and feel. They lack the immediacy of solo performance. That pop "remove" thing, just makes it a wash of state of the art, sound-track-y idol-y stuff. Too bad, the bland generic-ness. Evan Hansen and La La have compelling distinctiveness. I revisited the latter recently, and its charms were eccentric. Here, it's not the pop idiom per se, which makes commercial sense. It's the been there/heard that aspect. This feels overly calculated, and both songs sound thunderously over-produced. Maybe in context. "This Is Me" has that anthemic vibe, and will likely be re-purposed for sociopolitical impact ("I Am What I Am" move over). Great. I wish I was more swept up in the melody and vocal. |
