Lush string arrangements and her unique low-tone vocal inform the sweet, jazzy love of “Always You,” the opener on Lyia Meta’s new release of the same name. The slightly more poppy (certainly more upbeat) second tune, “Never Enough Time,” gives the lady even more to do with her interesting contralto vocal and Bob McGilpin and Gene Rabbai, her musicians here, more to fill in.
I like this one a lot.
The slower pace of the “For You,” lament, is another great one for Meta’s delivery. It kind of acts as the middle linchpin to these eight. The subtle orchestration is pretty much spot-on perfect. Always You owes as much to Meta’s songwriting collaborating with Denise Dimin, her unique voice as McGilpin’s smart co-producing.
The flute floating above “To Know What It’s Like” makes for a skipping-stones-over-a-clear-lake flirty little love tune. I like the ups-and-down vocal delivery on this one and the really big arrangement—another smart adult jazz vocal tune.
“My Dream Love,” post-coital, maybe one-night stand upbeat jazzy lament, ends this collection. Once again, Meta handles the vocal with aplomb. On this one, as a few of the others, I think I do detect some studio sweetening on the lady’s vocal, but she reaches for and hits all the notes, and again, the instruments create the bed around her are equal to the task.
Balancing time between her home bases of L.A. and Malaysia, the oft-awarded singer, songwriter/visual artist Lydia Meta surely delivers some sly well, played, and produced tunes on Always You.
Find more about Lydia and her new release, here:
Official Website: https://www.lyiameta.com/latest-release
