For the first couple of bars in Mela Bee’s “Shine,” west coast trap and retro pop conceptualism seems to hang in the air like a stubborn fog over the city lights of early morning, but the fierce beat from the percussion is soon to break through the clouds. Behind its strut, Mela is ready to start a harmony that wraps us in its melodic ribbonry and asks for us to step a little closer to the warmth of the music as it evolves before our very ears. It’s a brazen invitation, but let’s be honest – if we know anything about this incredibly gifted young woman’s work, it’s that she isn’t shy about taking the chances some of her rivals run from.
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/melabeeofficial?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
The instruments are deceptively indulgent in “Shine,” structuring a deceptively indulgent harmony in the first half of the song that is inevitably revealed to be one of minimalistic origins in the second, but this doesn’t bring the effectiveness of the climax here crashing down. Contrarily, I think that juxtaposition – and specifically how guest vocalist Kodie Shane is using it in this instance – is what gives us a better sense of how many working parts there are in this composition, as opposed to spotlighting the performance skills within this arrangement exclusively. After all, anyone can step into a studio and dress something up in a contemporarily sexy fashion; to create something that is both expressive and relatable to the listener requires a little more attention, and beyond that, a relationship with the medium in the first place.
Mela’s vocal is such a grand agent of seduction in this piece, but it’s not overstated to wave us closer with its melodic presence. She’s not trying to imitate a more melodic take on the hip-hop model as we know it in “Shine;” she wants the instrumental groove to be the groove, and her voice to be illustrative of her complex emotionality rather than her depth as a singer in the auto-tune age. Some might consider her perspective to be one of pure nature in this regard, but I don’t think you can make a single like this one without having a multidimensional attitude when it comes to creating every part of a pop song.
“Shine” is not your mom and dad’s slow jam, and Mela Bee is not your average pop singer. 2023 has been even more unpredictable for the pop genre than 2022 was, but if you’re trying to find reliability in a rookie artist, Mela’s is the gold standard in the industry right now. “Shine” takes fleeting soft concepts and smacks them with hip-hop attitude, lusty pop harmonies, and a freewheeling persona from its performer that is as contagious as can be. In short, this is an immersive crossover that doesn’t go out of its way to impress with aesthetical theatrics – it comes to us sporting bright lights naturally, which is something I have not found in many tracks commercially produced or independently recorded the same lately. Time will tell for sure, but it would certainly seem that Mela is a charming artist well on her way to the top.
Rachel Townsend