Back in 2016 , Michele’s album ‘Pieces’ sounded like a struggle to deal with a breakup, the lingering hurt, confusion mixed in with flashes of anger but still wished for love everlasting and held bruised but unbroken self belief.

A couple of the songs on her new release ‘Invitation’ date from that period so have the residue of those emotions yet the album as a whole speaks of a freedom. a confidence and acceptance of change and rebirth. The opening track ‘Tell Me’ I have written about already and it almost continues the conversation from ‘Pieces’, albeit with a 7 year break. Hope against expectation continues through to ‘The House’ musing on whether the spaces we share retain a little of what we were. Whether that be physical spaces or our inner dreams and imagined lives, we hold on to them despite reality creeping in. The lines about standing in the overgrown garden looking through the window at what once was special is particularly evocative

A pal has a favourite Paul Simon song which is from his much unloved LP ‘One Trick Pony’ titled ‘God Bless The Absentee’ which laments being a working musician and how that keeps him away from the things and people he loves. ‘Push & Pull’ similarly is an imagined dialogue between Michele & her daughter, which has been part of Michele’s live set for a while. The recorded version I found incredibly moving with its reverb, violin hitting the heights but also a slight stop start hesitancy echoing the conflict of the lyric.
‘I know I’m used to being back here on my own, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t always want you right here’ Andy Bruce’s piano in particular subtly and sweetly supports Michele’s tender and remorseful vocal.

The sassy, self assured and gleefully acidic vocal on ‘These Bones’ with the band tight but loose behind her might be my favourite thing on the record. We all enjoy a ‘nah, sod you’ songs whether it be ‘Yes’, ‘I Will Survive’ or ‘Forget You’ and this is a top draw example of how it can be done with humour and a little twist of the knife . Like on ‘Pieces’ Michele’s vocals sound incredibly intimate but this time with a feeling that every word and phrase is being carefully weighed on considered in the delivery. Never so much as on ‘Undone’ a tribute to unexpected love when you all but doubted it would come again or tat you would let it happen. The gentle sparse backing builds to an undulating synth breeze before returning to the nakedly honest, heartfelt ‘I have come undone by you’.

That new sense of freedom permeates ‘Come Dance With Me’ when you’re wishing to break the mould but it takes another to make you brave enough. A bravery born of someone seeing something in you that you never can. ‘The Good Fight’ tackles head on that realisation & admittance that something is forever lost and not worth wasting your energy over. If I was a therapist I’d say that we’ve reached the acceptance stage. The closing ‘Drowning’ is from the long dark teatime of the soul, the music swirling round like a dreamy, narcoleptic shroud and all our darkest and most persistent thoughts come out to play. Its very much a metaphor for the album as a whole – you need to just let yourself into her world

The above is what I get from listening to the album, the intentions and thoughts behind the songs as Michele wrote them are likely completely different but that’s the beauty of intimate and thoughtful albums like this. That’s what gets under your skin, makes them special and personal in a way that other artforms rarely do. Michele wears her heart on her sleeve and her music is often as raw, honest and direct as the emotions we all share.

Michele has made us wait a fair few years for this album yet the care taken over the production, arrangement and recording of these songs has made it very much worth it

Invitation is available from Michele’s bandcamp on CD \ LP \ download. Catch her on tour near you soon