The Sound of Blissful Love

Call It Love is Briana Marela’s third full length project. It is full of sublime, dreamlike production that nails the different emotions that love can bring about in someone. It goes from saccharine tracks full of happiness to more somber contemplations of what love really is. When listening to the music on this album, you will hear a wide range of influences from synth-pop and more experimental electronic music to even psychedelic rock. This album showcases the fact that Marela is an artist who knows how to stick to a theme and deliver a project that is coherent.

One of the first songs on the album that stands out, “Give Me Your Love,” is also one of the most upbeat and optimistic. The instrumentals are one of the more straightforward ones in the track list with a steady, relaxed beat that Marela sings hopeful lyrics over. Later on in the track list, “Call It Love” and “Last Time” are two standout songs that are a little different in their composition and tone. “Last Time” has great production and vocal effects reminiscent of psychedelic rock that go along well with its contemplative lyrics. “Call It Love” has an ’80s pop flavor to it that shines through the synth heavy instrumental and Marela’s lyrics. Marela sounds particularly good over an ’80s inspired beat. “Farthest Shore” is maybe the most unique sounding song on the album and also Marela’s personal favorite from this project. The song is emotionally darker than most of the other tracks on the album and her ghostly vocals emphasize that. The sharp synths in the background also add a chilling atmosphere to the track that is perfect for that tone. They all add to the theme of reaching the farthest shore.

Even though the album is full of consistent material that connects to the theme of love, it does have the problem of being redundant at times especially when it comes to Marela’s singing. She often does not do enough to differentiate her voice on songs that have very different emotions going through them. She keeps the same tone throughout almost the whole album with a few notable exceptions such as “Farthest Shore.” The lyrics and atmosphere of each track do a great job at painting the picture that Marela wants to paint; if she could convey the same from her voice then that would take this album up a notch. That being said, this is a well made album and Briana Marela has a real talent. Give this one a listen if you are looking for a new album about love.