Billie Myers
Growing, Pains

THE REVIEW

Billie Myers, another one-hit wonder from the '90s, that decade promising the rebirth of rock (as if that were inherently good) at the expense of the glossy pop of the '80s, which, instead, did nothing but create new commercial stereotypes, another talent sacrificed on the altar of the recording business in the face of talent and meritocracy, to whom I intend, in my own small way, to pay homage and delve into as she deserves.

Probably the lack of lasting success for this very talented singer and songwriter can be traced to a banal and sordid matter of targeting: with an English mother and Jamaican father, Billie Myers in her first album "Growing, Pains" combines a predominantly rock instrumentation, almost solely based on both acoustic and electric guitars with a stunning soulful voice, powerful yet at the same time gentle, soft, delicate, presenting herself with a simple and clean image, with the humility of someone who comes from climbing the ranks in local venues and not from some silly girl band. The good (so to speak) Desmond Child, producer of "Growing, Pains" understood: this girl was good for a hit, but for real money, sincerity and cleanliness don't pay; one had to bank on ostentation, on arrogance, on sensuality flaunted as in the worst dive bars of Caracas, thus on the likes of Beyonce, Anastacia, Alicia Keys who in a few years would invade hit parades and glossy covers.

Returning to us, Billie Myers' debut is an album superbly produced and arranged, in a predominantly rock-soul key interspersed with some acoustic moments, a single concession to electronics, none to hip-hop. The vocal power and class of the Anglo-Caribbean singer interpret with absolute perfection, with the right intensity and the right sense of measure and style ballads of great class and transport like the hit "Kiss The Rain", "A Few Words Too Many", the more tormented "Please Don't Shout", a beautiful and liberating "You Send Me Flying", and the soft and consoling "Opposites Attract", while episodes like "The Shark And The Mermaid" and "Much Change Too Soon" demonstrate a marked folk sensitivity, with a touch of gospel in "Mother, Daughter, Sister, Lover", an anthem to sincere and authentic femininity. "Having Trouble With The Language", which satirizes President Clinton's romantic mishaps and all the related hypocrisy, represents the most oriented side of the record on the more "white" pop rock along with "First Time", a song that, especially in the chorus, showcases a radio-friendly, lively, and catchy style that would be repeatedly and successfully reprised by P!nk, while "Tell Me" plays with electronics, with hints of Arabesque world music creating an intense, evocative and sensual rock mid-tempo.

Even being a product perfectly in line with radio standards, "Growing, Pains" is an album of great character and high quality, showing that a different pop is possible, but unfortunately can never dominate in the world of image and profit; many artists, even talented ones, have chosen to compromise with this, Billie Myers, like Fastball in another musical field, did not, with her life choices, her sincerity, her refusal to bow to squalid commercial logic that led her to a dimension of total media invisibility, she proved to be a thinking head, a real person, a true Woman, and not a puppet, and this is even more important than being an honest and talented singer-songwriter with a beautiful voice, and for this she deserves respect and admiration regardless, and, why not, even a listen without snobbery and preconceptions.