M2M Listening Report

This is how I avoid studying

Just got Shades of Purple today and it's very difficult to decide (especially after only a few listens) whether or not I prefer it to The Big Room. Big Room was my intro to Marion & Marit, but both albums have their strengths. M2M was much more unified on their first album, not particularly distinguishable until Marion's pipes really took over on the next one. In this sense, they may have been not only one of the first confessional teenpop groups, but one of the first ANONYMOUS confessional groups, years before it was cool (and before it adopted, almost exclusively, a sibling/twin model. I'm not gonna look into that just now, though).

M2M take on a less explicitly defined position/personality, playing the role of everygirl on this one, with some powerhouse lyrics hiding in even lighter, maybe more timidly(?) arranged songs. There's no diva boldness to highlight lines like "Call me crazy, call me blind/ To still be suffering is stupid/ ...did I lose my love to someone better/ And does she love you like I do?" "The Day You Went Away" seems to follow the same basic scenario they'd use in "Jennifer" ("Wow, she must be great. You two must really be happy together. Oh no, I'm fine. Don't worry about it, I mean, I'm completely devastated after all this time, isn't that weird? But no, she seems nice." Which suggests that maybe we need a LOT more passive-agressive teenpop, not quite the same thing as thinly veiled euphemism or aggressive-aggressive angst.)

I love how specific M2M get with "Day You Went Away," in a very different way than "Jennifer" (which, for the record, has one of the most ACIDIC pronunciations of a name I've EVER heard..."JENnifer is one heckuva gal [SNEER SMILE]"). Although you know, maybe it's more of a desperate delivery, a warning to this poor girl who REALLY IS VERY NICE. [EDIT: haha, wow just listened again and definitely forgot about "I wish that somebody would drop her"...and pretty much the whole chorus. Sympathy theory rescinded]

"DYWA" has this gem:

I remember date and time/ September 22nd/ Sunday 25 after nine/ In the doorway with your case/ No longer shouting at each other/ There were tears on our faces

Oh my god. HOW DEVASTATING IS THAT??? WHO BREAKS UP AT 9:25 IN THE MORNING? Or was it at night? It feels like it happened in the morning (it is the day he went away, if he left PM they would have been FIGHTING all day, which doesn't feel right...), they were fighting all night and dozed off together for the last time and woke up early, completely out of energy, she stands and watches him in the doorway feeling completely empty as he walks out (which means it's her place. Or her parents', yikes maybe he's trying to bolt before Mom and Dad wake up...must be a weekend, anyone have a 1999-2000 calendar to see what day Sep. 22 was? Whatever, they knew what was going on downstairs because everyone was SHOUTING until they fell asleep or left) The tears are all dried up, really more of a redness of the eye the way I'm imagining this. How old were they when they recorded this, 16? Really dead on getting the vibe of the break-up...Ashlee is closest to working in this territory now, and honestly I kind of prefer this sort of break-up song to "Since U Been Gone" style kiss-off (lyrically, not necessarily musically) although thematically it's closer to the songs Kelly C wrote herself.

The blending of both voices lends a strange and kind of disconcerting resonance to a few songs after a second to digest/listen a little closer. The self-deprecation feels very honest but it's not attributable to a specific personality or persona...and some of it cuts deep -- this is the kind of articulation of adolescent conflict that Pink might strive for...see, these aren't "stupid girls." Maybe M&M should be talking to 13 y/o Pink instead.

So I'm listening and relistening to "Our Song" and can't get "best teenpop song of the decade" out of my head. I do like it, kind of similar to DioGuardi/Simpson-style pretty abstract poetry with the occasional detail dagger, love the sorta brilliant transition into the Bee Gees chorus, perplexing mid-song cell phone call (what the hell is that guy saying? "_____...you're on your own." "It's done..."? "It's not..."? Sounds cruel whatever it is)...but overall it feels kind of flat compared to "Day You Went Away" or "Don't Say You Love Me" or "Everything" (still my favorite, I think), excepting maybe some subtle layering of vocal harmonies as the verses build.

The reason I don't think these two albums are really comparable is because the dynamic between Marit and Marion on Shades in no way resembles the relationship they'd display later, where there are 2 distinct M's, as opposed to maybe an interpretation of their name as "M TO M," an interchangable back and forth. Part of me likes the idea of them trying to place teenage girls (or, uh, grown men) into this complex narrative of conflict and longing...but not self-pity exactly, which is what separates both albums from a lot of post-Avril confessional stuff. There's also a streak of badass empowerment/domination, tells one kid to get down on yer knees when you're around me. And there's that incident at the cinema.

But then I also like the two personalities fighting it out, Marit trying her best to pipe in from behind Marion's vocal makeover. A big ol' voice will only get you so far, though, I get the feeling that Marit could flash a sad little smile at me or Jennifer or whoever and just DESTROY us. Which is what I think she kind of did already (wow, just let me vote it at #1 now -- no I will not actually publish any music criticism until you forcibly kick me out of the building/poll. Oh shit, I guess Skye's album will be released at some point. Wow, tomorrow is an EXTRA SUPER SPECIAL SKYE FRIDAY. But what will her new album be called? WE'VE GOT NAMES! FIND OUT TOMORROW!!