Susan
Calloway - Time for This
One
should be forgiven for wondering why Susan Calloway isn’t commanding packed
houses in major venues already. Her songwriting talents merge with performing
and vocal skills to serve up one of year’s most substantial pop efforts. “Time
for This” is a piano ballad, of sorts, but there’s never a second when
Calloway’s talents do anything less than make emotional and moving demands of
the listener. This is far from pandering with some commercial pap but, instead,
plays like it is ripped from the pages of her personal life. The sense of high
stakes in this performance cannot be underestimated. Her previous success with
singles like “Answers”, her musical contribution to the Final Fantasy video
game franchise, gave notice she is a major new talent, but “Time for This”
proves she’s no shooting star with limited upside. The sky is the proverbial
limit for what this formidable artist can accomplish.
Her
producer/co-writer Gerard Smerek has worked with Calloway in the past and has a
clear vision for how to present her voice alongside ideal musical settings. It
doesn’t get much more ideal than the arrangement for “Time for This”. The warm
and flowing piano lines create numerous melodic high points and there’s only a
near ambient smattering of synth color swelling from the background. The
addition has a string-like quality that lends some extra weight to the
competition without ever becoming too obtrusive. The running time is ideal and
never overreaches – instead, this is a compressed little gem that,
nevertheless, always provides ample space for both the vocals and glittering
piano runs room to breathe and roam. The beginning and ending are both
particularly evocative and show just the right amount of musical imagination
without ever coming off too obvious. The production balance between the vocals
and piano work is perfect – they work together perfectly and the individual
parts come together for form a greater whole.
Calloway’s
voice milks every possible drop of theatricality from the lyrics, but the
writing is never presented in such a way that it would afford singers an
opportunity to be overwrought or melodramatic. This is an infinitely sensible
song that never goes in for cheap dramatics and speaks about the song’s
particular experience with plain-spoken language. Her phrasing has a nicely
artistic touch without ever cheapening the emotional tenor of the songwriting.
She builds her vocal step for step with the accompanying piano and the rough
gravitas she’s capable of bringing to particular moments makes this an even
more impactful performance. This is one of the year’s pop masterpieces in
miniature and Susan Calloway’s performance propels this robust song even higher
into the stratosphere. “Time for This” seizes upon emotions we’ve all
experienced and reaches out for the audience with unabashed honesty that will
stir any heart. It’s another rousing artistic success for this great performer
and deservedly elevates her professional profile to a place it hasn’t yet
occupied.
Scott
Wigley
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