Hello everyone, and welcome back to another Lydia's Girls blog post! This week I will be discussing another OG (original girls, not to get confused with original gangster), Michelle Branch! Michelle has been a part of Lydia's Girls since the first album. I have always been such a big fan of hers that I adventured out onto her albums.
Michelle was born in Sedona, Arizona. Her father, David, is Irish, and her mother is Dutch-Indonesian and of French descent. Ever since Michelle was young, she has always been invested in music. She started to sing when she was three years old and started taking voice lessons at Northern Arizona University when she was eight. On her 14th birthday, she got a guitar and taught herself how to play some chords. She wrote her first song, Fallen, only a week after getting her guitar. Michelle spent two years at Sedona Red Rock High School but then switched to being home-schooled so she could focus on her music. Her parents helped Michelle out by booking her local gigs and providing the funds for her first album Broken Bracelet. The album title was inspired by a bracelet Jewel made and was given to Michelle by Steve Poltz and Lisa Loeb at a concert they performed. They told her that when the bracelet broke, she would be famous.
Michelle signed to Maverick Records when she was 17. Maverick Records had heard Michelle's independent album and was very impressed with her songwriting and guitar skills. Especially since, at the time, female singers were mainly singing other people's songs. In 2001 Spirit Room was released when she was 18. Spirit Room was very successful with hits like Everywhere and All You Wanted. Michelle released her second studio album Hotel Paper in 2003, another success for her. The album was certified Platinum since it sold over one million copies. In 2004 Michelle married her bass player Teddy Landau and had a baby girl that next year. At the age of 21, Michelle was living a busy life. Michelle started collaborating with her friend Jessica Harp in 2005 and created the country duo The Wreckers. The group released an album called Stand Still, Look Pretty, which did well and was nominated for a couple of awards. In 2007, they decided to split up. Michelle continued to write music and released an EP called Everything Comes and Goes in 2011. She also worked with other artists on their music. In 2014, Michelle separated and got a divorce from Teddy. In 2015 she met and started dating Patrick Carney of the Black Keys. Patrick helped Michelle create her most recent album Hopeless Romantic in 2017. Michelle has stated that Patrick has been a huge supporter of her and encouraged her to make new music. Patrick and Michelle are now married and have had a baby boy and girl.
Today I will be writing about Not A Love Song from Michelle's most recent album, Hopeless Romantic. The song was written by Michelle, Patrick, Amy Kuney, and Drew Pearson. This song reminds me of Michelle's early songs with the electric guitar. The lyrics show a lot of frustration and anger, saying, "You were my first ever. I wish we'd never met. You drink to feel better. I'm drinking to forget." My favorite part of the song is the pre-chorus and chorus. "Remember when we said 'together, forever.' Whatever. You're not even good enough for a love song. You're just somebody that I wasted my youth on. Turn up the radio. I wanna let you know. Oh, this isn't your love song." When Michelle's singing this, you can tell that she is pissed off that this person would think that she would write a love song for them. I love the added harmony vocals and the keys. The music, on the whole, is amped up and is a headbanger. During the post-chorus, you can hear Michelle say Oh and has excellent oo's in the background, like some perfect seasoning on top. I also like that the second verse is quick so that you can hear that amazing chorus again. The bridge is also short but gives a nice contrast to the rest of the song.
I am a massive fan of Michelle's music, and I hope she releases more soon. Let me know if you're a fan of Michelle's, and what's your favorite song?
Check out Michelle’s song and the rest of the song I reviewed in the following link!
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6ETYI6A3dsOe9fJTBQVWg8?si=b6ab9c3a14c14d1c
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