Angel Taylor
[Note: If you think this is bad you should have seen what we were sent originally…]
The innocence and enthusiasm of 20-year-old singer/songwriter Angel Taylor is palpable and infectious. It feels good to be enveloped in her tender lyrics and gentle melodies. And success is coming quickly to the soft-spoken California native. Barely out of her teens and only a few years evolved from novice poet and musician, in quick order she arrived in the New York for the first time, auditioned for producer Mikal Blue (Colbie Caillat, Brendan James) and signed with Aware/Columbia. Heady stuff for sure, but Taylor is far from jaded. Her appeal is derived from an authentic sweetness and sensitivity. The resonance of her fractured lyrical fairy tales transports listeners back to their own first awkward misadventures in romance. To enjoy her debut release Love Travels is to be engulfed in relatable insecurities, disappointments and ultimately youthful hope for the surprises that lay ahead. Her true talent as a songwriter is taking what is universal, the often mundane basis of pop music, and make it seems fresh and alive. “Anyone who has ever wanted to be loved very deeply by someone, but hasn’t, will totally be able to grab hold of these songs,” says Taylor. “That’s what this album is about – wanting it so bad, not having it, and wondering why… It’s a lot of questions.”
Opening track “Chai Tea Latte” dissects a multi-cultural love that never was and echoes John Mayer – her favorite musician and now label mate on Columbia. Taylor never wanted a recording contract, but happenstance is making her, like Mayer, a standout voice in the din of pop culture excesses. Pursuing nothing more than a way to record her songs as a family Christmas gift, an email to Mikal Blue yielded an impromptu audition and label attention. What happens now will be driven the lust for life and charisma captured on Love Travels.
