This EP launches an essential new local Reading talent that you need to seek out on the pub circuit while you still can.
This debut EP from the Reading singer-songwriter confirms her as a hugely exciting talent. Foster-Turner leans towards indie-folk, though with her strong vocals and self-taught guitar skills you could imagine her touching upon a range of genres as she finds her feet. She is only 17 and had exams to contend with prior to the Summer. She started learning how to play guitar during the COVID-19 lockdowns. She describes her influences as Lizzy McAlpine, Noah Kahan, Billie Eilish and The Cranberries. There are elements of those styles that you can see have integrated into her work, though many older listeners might make comparison with Joni Mitchell, Beth Orton or Laura Marling. Those are not comparisons to be thrown around lightly and really speak to just how exciting a talent we have on our hands here.
Her incredible voice has a lived beyond its years quality to it. A maturity conveyed through emotional experience. The six tracks presented here are all well considered and well crafted. ‘Narcissist’ is rolling along nicely, a seriously well-orchestrated track, when all but the acoustic guitar drops out and suddenly we can hear fragments of a disagreement going on under the vocals. It is surprisingly affecting.
‘Keeping Score’ is just stunning, maybe the single best song we have listened to this year. The vocals soar over a simple-yet-complex guitar part and some lovely string accompaniment. Amazingly, it was written as a GCSE Music composition piece. If the exam board did not award top marks, then we would be demanding a re-mark. It is like when Declan Mckenna handed in ‘Brazil’ for his coursework. ‘Wishful Thinking’ is almost as equally strong. There are artists who could go twenty years and not write two songs this good. That these were written and recorded at the age of fifteen and sixteen is positively mind-blowing.
‘Change’ and ‘Habit’ are not quite as strong. Though only in the way a mid-range BMW is not quite as good as a high-end Rolls Royce. They are still a million miles better than an entry level Vauxhall or a Ford. ‘Serendipity’ is a strong ending. Another song that you find yourself catching your breath and going, “Wow.”
Thirty years ago, a talent like this would have been snapped up by a major label and nurtured through the next few years. These days, you have to do all the hard work yourself. Only when you have found an audience substantial enough will they then swoop in and claim you as some sort of discovery. The road is littered with incredibly talented people, artists and bands who sounded brilliant, gave it everything and still couldn’t turn a living out of it who then walked away. The thought of Meli Foster-Turner having to do anything other than come up with exciting new music to make a living from should be criminal. As calling cards go, this EP is akin to a small nuclear device being detonated on the fragile indie-folk landscape. Seek her out on the local scene while you can. It might take a while, but she utterly deserves to turn heads at a national level.
Essential Tracks: ‘Narcissist,’ ‘Keeping Score,’ ‘Wishful Thinking’ and ‘Serendipity.’
Meli & The Burnt Sugar are playing at The Duke, Marlow on the 7th of August.
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