CD Review of...
Leslie Mendelson
Take It As You Will
By: Kiki Alexander
New York based soul/folk artist Leslie Mendelson knows a thing or two about the music industry having previously been with the R&B act Mother Freedom, and has opened for such glittery names as Suzanne Vega. That said, her debut album Take It As You Will, shows no evidence of that increasingly polluted world. Instead you’ll find a whimsical endeavor oozing in cool simplicity and chick-friendly melodies.
The record opens like a lazy summer afternoon on the title track, Take It As You Will. An adorable and sweet three minutes of bouncy rhythms and realizations, but perhaps a bit too sugary with it’s obvious rhyming and redundancy, reminding one of a sophisticated children’s song. Still it possesses-along with the remaining nine tracks- the refreshingly breezy feeling of humble insight.
The next song is the beautifully girly, Emmalina which eases us into a more melancholy vibe and proves two things: One, that the pure emotion that pours out of Take It As You Will is entirely original. And two, that the confidence that Mendelson is not just some fluke hippie-coffee-house-performing-novelty is rightly placed.
Mendelson strays from her R&B roots, blending them with a bit of country (especially on Meeting People), folk, and poetic randomness while bringing to mind a less polished Norah Jones at times. Aside from her genuine voice and playful lyrics, it is apparent that the girl is precocious and secure in her insecurities as she spins them into sincere portraits that almost any on-the-verge-twenty-something girl could find herself painted into. Mendelson will be stretching her wings further than I’m sure anyone-including herself-expected.