The first convincing EP by Michèle Raffaele
Published on Musicamag, by Giorgio Pezzana.
Michèle Raffaele’s debut EP is being described as a jazz-pop recording, an artist of Canadian origin , who has been living in Italy for a while now. An interesting work from the very first notes which reveal an artist dimension of the highest level. “Minor Offender” is the title of the project achieved by skilfully highlighting Michèle’s confident voice and the ability of her hands which flow without hesitation on the keys of the piano, giving each piece a strong personality.
The EP’s dimension induces the artist to show off everything important originating from her musical background and her wandering around the world. She sings in English and in French with the same ease and her songs are elegant brush strokes of every day life: from the amusing indecisions of a young woman who is always waiting for a better opportunity (“Lady Maybe”), to the reality of immigration read in the eyes of a young African man met by chance (“Remember Me Next Sunday”), to the piece which gives the title to the EP “Minor Offender” which tells about a very beautiful woman’s coldness, who, by her way of approaching the men she wants to mislead, exhibits what is in reality the progressive freezing of an entire society, even the amusing drawing of a character who always knows it all and loves to show off his knowledge (“Superior”), to conclude with a tribute to her native city, sung in her first language, French (“Montréal…je reviendrai”). A work which highlights an artist’s personality, though it grants very little to the more commercial dimension, it still manages to nail the listener until the very last note of its pieces.