Quantcast
Music
cover art

Mayda

The Interrogation

(Sonic Matrimony; US: 10 Mar 2009)

Born in South Korea but calling Minnesota her stomping grounds, Mayda gets her groovy, synth-tinged pop party started with the bubbly, catchy and sugar-coated “My Circuitry”, a tune that someone like Pink or Avril could have a hit single with. Meanwhile, “Actin’ Crazy” is a quirky but infectious number that lets Mayda steer the song with a strong set of pipes. The problem with most albums that start off strong is they tend to wilt, but Mayda manages to avoid that pitfall with the decent synth-hop of “Focus” which recalls Rhianna minus the umbrella. Sadly, the title track with all its edge and roughness, sounds far too forced and suffers as a result. Mayda nails the raps perfectly, as is the case with the dark but solid “Inhale” with some help from Dessa Darling. Perhaps what the singer does best is working in short, choppy but quite credible pop formats, especially the swinging “Dirty Pie Crew” and the closing “Almond Eyes”. For fans of short, sweet and polished radio pop with soul.

Rating:

Originally from Cape Breton, MacNeil is currently writing for the Toronto Sun as well as other publications, including All Music Guide, Billboard.com, NME.com, Country Standard Time, Skope Magazine, Chart Magazine, Glide, Ft. Myers Magazine and Celtic Heritage. A graduate of the University of King's College, MacNeil currently resides in Toronto. He has interviewed hundreds of acts ranging from Metallica and AC/DC to Daniel Lanois and Smokey Robinson. MacNeil (modestly referred to as King J to friends), a diehard Philadelphia Flyers fan, has seen the Rolling Stones in a club setting, thereby knowing he will rest in peace at some point down the road. Oh, and he writes for PopMatters.com.


Comments
Now on PopMatters
Busted Headphones: Hip Hop Es Mi Cultura
‘The Artist’ dominates BAFTAs (PopWire) [Mon, 9:01 am]
Your Anti-Valentine's Day Playlist. (Mixed Media) [Mon, 8:30 am]
  1. 'Nebraska': Bruce Springsteen's 'Heart of Darkness' (Columns)
  2. The 10 Greatest Shakespeare Film Adaptations of All Time (Short Ends and Leader)
  3. Slipped Discs 2011 - Part 1: From 13Ghosts to Friendly Fires (Features)
  4. Not-So-Central Casting: Kevin Smith and the Birth of the Reality Podcast (Features)
  5. The 10 Greatest Movie Spies Ever (Short Ends and Leader)
  6. Slipped Discs 2011 - Part 2: From the Go! Team to the Phoenix Foundation (Features)
  7. Slipped Discs 2011 - Part 3: From Real Estate to Youth Lagoon (Features)
  8. Lana Del Rey: Born to Die (Reviews)
  9. Bored This Way: The 54th Annual Grammy Awards (Features)
  10. The Top 15 Madonna Singles of All Time (Sound Affects)
  11. Get Off of My Cloud!: 'Collecting' Music in the Digital Age (Features)
  12. Leonard Cohen: Old Ideas (Reviews)
  13. Google and the Production of Curiosity (Marginal Utility)
  14. Carole E. Barrowman’s Authorial Journey to Hollow Earth (Features)
  15. “Don’t Let Me Fall”: Hip-Hop in the Age of Austerity (Features)
  16. Tower Songs: Townes Van Zandt (Columns)
  17. Black Bananas: Rad Times Xpress IV (Reviews)
  18. Paul McCartney: Kisses on the Bottom (Reviews)
  19. The Gay Ole Countryside (Columns)
  20. Of Montreal: Paralytic Stalks (Reviews)
  21. Nick Cave’s The Death of Bunny Munro: A Rock Star’s Midlife Crisis or Valid Literature? (Features)
  22. Counterbalance No. 67: John Coltrane’s 'A Love Supreme' (Sound Affects)
  23. A Look to the Past, An Insight Into the Present: The Use of Gender in 'Mad Men' (Features)
  24. Van Halen: A Different Kind of Truth (Reviews)
  25. The 10 Best John Coltrane Solos (Sound Affects)
  26. A Tale of How Great Journalism Became Revisionist History: Grambling State U Football (Columns)
  27. Chairlift: Something (Reviews)
  28. Mark Lanegan Band: Blues Funeral (Reviews)
  29. Mitt Romney Can Reside at Today's Proverbial 'Downton Abbey'... Newt Gingrich Cannot (Features)
  30. After Cease to Exist: The Far-from-Final Report of Throbbing Gristle (Features)
PM Picks
Music Archive
Announcements

© 1999-2012 PopMatters.com. All rights reserved.
PopMatters.com™ and PopMatters™ are trademarks
of PopMatters Media, Inc.

PopMatters is wholly independently owned and operated.
PopMatters is a member of BUZZMEDIA Music, MOG and Guardian Select.