“Momento Mori” is the latest release by Chellcy Reitsma, an outstanding Dutch-American singer-songwriter. Heavily promoted by “Boat To Nod” and “Violent Flame,” two excellent singles that will immediately grab your attention, “Momento Mori” carries ten exceptional compositions suitable for anyone looking for cleverly assembled and flawlessly performed music. This particular material is the first part of her double conceptual album. With “Momento Mori,” Chellcy Reitsma points out the unpredictability of life and addresses themes such as mortality, failures, mistakes, misfortunes, and ultimately inevitable demise. Lyrically, it’s a perfect introduction into, “Carpe Diem,” a second part of this double album that explains how we should live our lives to the fullest without regretting anything before we face the inevitable end. Soundwise, Chellcy Reitsma combines the singer-songwriter approach with many different but complementary music genres. Perhaps alternative rock comes to mind, but you’ll notice how some other elements borrowed from art-rock, indie rock, psych rock, folk rock, alt-folk, and other similar styles found their way into this sonic equation. Chellcy Reitsma uses all these sonic ingredients as more than necessary enhancements, accentuations, decorations, and other details to elevate her music to new heights while remaining loyal to the primary sonic direction. Therefore, these experimentations with many different but complementary music genres resulted in a comprehensive collection of catchy, memorable, engaging compositions that will immediately resonate with the broader auditorium.
This epic album commences with “Dark Times,” a marvelous alternative rock song, garnered with subtle touches of Americana, classic rock, and rock ‘n’ roll. As soon as you press play, you’ll notice how Chellcy Reitsma’s marvelous vocal harmonies command attention and guide the listening apparatus from scratch to finish. Her passionate, sincere, confident, powerful vocal performance emphasizes all those outstanding instruments. The guitars shape a perfect backdrop by delivering catchy, semi-distorted chord progressions and riffs while the synths lurk around and spice things up even more. The rhythm section uplifts “Dark Times” to a new level by delivering equally intricate, warm-sounding basslines and groovy, dynamic, energetic beats. It’s such a perfect opening track that promises a pleasant listening experience till the end. Chellcy Reitsma slows down the pace with “The Darkness,” a calm, soothing, relaxing, ethereal ballad where her vocal abilities shine in the limelight. Her impressive vocal range seamlessly balances between low, mid, and high notes, decorating all those mesmerizing chord progressions and otherwordly keys. “Fleshbot Prison” brings more pure, soulful, psychedelic rock ‘n’ roll to the table. Chellcy Reitsma gradually builds the ambiance by delivering perfectly dosed vocal, sonic, and rhythmic maneuvers that become more groovy and powerful as the song progresses. Her vocal performance is soulful and confident, with all those low, mid, and high notes lurking around and emphasizing the orchestrations. “Boat To Nod” is one of the standouts of this epic full-length album. With this track, Chellcy Reitsma introduces more ethno, world music, and folk rhythmic patterns while retaining that alternative rock sound. These experimentations with different approaches and music genres suit her well, as she demonstrated fresh, unique, innovative sound throughout the entire track. Once again, she calms things down with “Sad Lullaby,” another magnificent ballad where vocal arrangements and synths reign supreme. Besides her fascinating vocal performances, you’ll notice how back vocals accentuate particular segments. These vocal harmonies and the leading themes create an almost psychedelic ambiance, but you’ll also notice some folk elements included along the way.
Chellcy Reitsma never ceases to amaze with her approach to songwriting and composing, and “To My Surprise” is a perfect example how she takes folk music to an entirely new level with her ideas. This short piece showcases her storytelling lyricism on full display while subtle piano melodies and violin leads construct an adequate backdrop for her narration. It’s a perfect introductory piece to “Death’s At The Door,” a folk-rock piece where she introduces even more complex vocal arrangements, back vocals, and singalongs. You’ll notice how marvelous chord progressions collide with the warm-sounding basslines while the violin decorates each segment. In the meantime, the subtle percussions dictate groove and pace. It’s a highly addictive, hypnotic, irresistible song that will force you to repeat the entire album all over again. “Phoenix Fly” delivers a nearly cathartic listening experience with soothing, reverby melodies, harmonies, themes, and other sonic maneuvers, which construct a perfect backdrop for Chellcy Reitsma’s incredible vocal performance. It’s one of those tracks where the artist gradually prepares the listener for groovy, powerful choruses, empowered by punchy basslines and robust rhythmic patterns. “Violent Flame” is another standout from this impressive full-length album. Besides Chellcy Reitsma’s recognizable voice, you might expect Bossanova-inspired instrumentations. This style suits her well, as she delivers an incredible performance that will immediately hypnotize you with all those funky guitars and danceable rhythms. This epic sonic journey comes to an end with a remix of “Boat To Nod,” a rendition that delivers a slight change in the arrangements, empowered with more reverby vocal harmonies. It’s a perfect closure to such an impressive collection.
“Momento Mori” is a fine piece of sonic artistry that will immediately grab you by the collar and refuse to let go long after the last song ends. Chellcy Reitsma poured heart and soul into this material, resulting in a collection of ten fascinating songs that vividly showcase her experience, knowledge, skills, and talent. From impressive vocal harmonies, catchy chord progressions, beautiful piano melodies, and violin leads to powerful low-ends and intricate rhythmic patterns, “Momento Mori” demonstrates Chellcy Reitsma’s songwriting, composing, arranging, and producing abilities to the max, positioning her to the top of the contemporary alternative and folk rock scene. You should immediately place this outstanding album on your radar. It’s available on all streaming platforms. Don’t miss it!
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