By Brian Rock
St. Louis songbird Mattie Schell makes her solo debut with, Everything Means Nothing. The former member of River Kittens, and frequent partner with the Allman Betts Family Reunion takes center stage on this soulful release. With a voice that’s part Jaime Wyatt and part Miko Marks, Schell quickly adds her name to the list of modern, soulful Americana sirens such as Ruthie Foster, Kelley Mickwee, Jessie Wagner and the aforementioned Wyatt and Marks.
Although still an emerging artist, Schell finds herself singing the road weary blues on, “Coast to Coast.” Over a walking bassline and subdued Hammond organ, she sings, “When I come home, nothing feels the same anymore.” Split between two worlds, she doesn’t feel at home in either. Continuing, she notes, “All my friends only drive in white panel vans. We don’t even have any fans to speak of.” Schell’s plaintive voice captures the angst and insecurity of following your dreams in those first months and years before your dream begins to take shape. Finally admitting that, “Maybe I don’t know who I am anymore,” she realizes that the life she’s chosen is changing the life she once knew. Schell’s evocative voice brilliantly captures that threshold between torment and elation, when you want something so bad, but you haven’t quite obtained it. The musical bridge features guitar and keyboard interplay that’s reminiscent of George Harrison and Billy Preston during the “Get Back” sessions–which lends an air of optimism in favor of those dreams coming true.
“Rivertown Trip,” highlights the power of Schell’s voice as she sings a scorching, heartfelt ode to her hometown. The sardonic, “Thank You,” finds her adding a tinge of rasp and growl as she confronts her ex. Speaking for women everywhere, Schell moans, “I’m saying thank you for being around to tear me down. ‘Cause every woman needs a time to say ‘I’m through with your bullshit’.” “Hard Times,” adds a haunting, “Mary Jane’s Last Dance,” rhythm to stand defiantly against whatever cruel arrows fate may sling. Showing her softer side on “Come Back to Me,” Schell delivers a heartbreaking cry of loss and longing. “Everything Means Nothing,” is another soulful plea for love. “And So It Goes,” is a more primal cry to restore what once was. Shell pushes her voice to the edge of breaking as she cries, “We can’t take it with us, Goddamn we keep trying… The harder you search, the less meaning you’ll find.” Lyrically and emotionally, she captures the feel of a lost soul searching for meaning in an endless universe. Reframing her angst, Schell evokes the classic, cocktail Jazz vibe of Diane Schurr on, “Is the Party Really Over?” She even manages to conjure traces of Sierra Ferrell on the steel guitar tinged, “Anniversary.” Like the classics “Crazy,” and “Blue,” Schell incorporates a subtle country yodel to express a bittersweet confession of unconditional love. Singing, “Call me names and make me cry. You can use me as your alibi. I’ll still keep on loving you;” she sacrifices her pride on the altar of love. Whether singing about romance, remorse, or resilience, Mattie Schell’s voice plumbs the depths of emotion to expose the raw nerves of human experience. With “Everything Means Nothing,” Schell takes her place among this new generation of powerful women voices of Americana.
Brian Rock
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