IndieShark Music News, Reviews & Interviews
Understated, throwback pop has been trending hard in the United States and Canada lately, and in her new single “Love to the Moon,” Raquel Kiaraa puts her own spin on the style with some interesting results to say the least. “Love to the Moon” is undeniably defined by its stinging vocal harmony, but it boasts a couple of experimental moments that I would say make its creator more interesting than what she’s actually created here. There’s a moxie in her performance that I’m dying for her to utilize further, and once you give this track a spin, I think you’ll understand what I mean.
URL: https://www.raquelkiaraa.com/
First off, let’s breakdown some of the issues in the song. The rhythm in the chorus creates a bit of awkwardness for Kiaraa that she does her best to straddle – mostly by getting excessive with the melody. It’s almost as though she doesn’t quite know what to do with her voice in this moment; whether she goes high or low, it’s as though the hesitance is enough to bring the fluidity of the verse to a standstill for a fleeting moment. It’s a minor hiccup, but one that definitely prevents “Love to the Moon” from having an instant ‘wow’ factor attached to its hook.
The music video for this track flirts with some formulaic pop themes that I could always do without, but luckily finds itself saved by the sheer charisma of its star performer – Raquel Kiaraa herself. Though the visuals are dreadfully overplayed in the scope of modern and old school pop music, they nonetheless sport a bright light in the midst of the chaotic imagery that nothing is able to fully extinguish. This is a songstress with immense presence just itching to be properly exploited, and that’s very, very obvious in both the peaks and valleys of “Love to the Moon.”
Despite the few surface flaws I’ve already highlighted, the bones of this composition are definitely as strong as I’d want them to be from a critical perspective, as they show off a budding songwriter who is still trying to find her way into the hierarchy of the international indie pop scene. Does detail matter in a greenhorn release like this one? To some extent, but in all honesty Kiaraa has enough of the right moves with the mic to compensate for any sort of rookie shortcomings one would expect to come across here.
Raquel Kiaraa is developing her own identity right now, and as trying a task as that may be, she demonstrates an authenticity in her debut that I believe warrants a second look in the future. This is a decent start to what could be a really fetching career in vocal-based pop music, and although she’s facing competition both younger and more American-minded in marketing and appeal, I have no doubts as to whether or not she’s going to find a home with the right audience a lot sooner than later. Keep your eye on this one – “Love to the Moon” is just a sample of what she can really accomplish.
Mark Druery
Raquel Kiaraa is developing her own identity right now, and as trying a task as that may be, she demonstrates an authenticity in her debut that I believe warrants a second look in the future. This is a decent start to what could be a really fetching career in vocal-based pop music, and although she’s facing competition both younger and more American-minded in marketing and appeal, I have no doubts as to whether or not she’s going to find a home with the right audience a lot sooner than later. Keep your eye on this one – “Love to the Moon” is just a sample of what she can really accomplish.
Mark Druery
