From first look, it is clear that Stephanie Bosch is highly dedicated to her craft of songwriting. At 21 she has already released 2 EP's and a full length album as well as performed at many high profile events such as Canadian Music Week in Toronto in 2010 and the Edmonton Folk Festival in 2009, which is where I was first introduced to her music. Her first full length album "Departures", landed at #24 on the CKUA Radio charts and climbed it's way up to #9 after just two weeks when it was first released in 2009."Stupid Charlie" is a clean departure from the style I am used to hearing from her, but it is refreshing as she brings a new attitude and diversity to this record. The song "Stupid Charlie" has subtle country influences with a very effective, catchy melody and alot of attitude. "Skin" provides a nice contrast to "Stupid Charlie". A self reflective tune which is reminiscent of classic Alanis Morissette. "Wasted" is an acoustic ballad which provides some nice downtime from the first two songs on the record and "Alone Eventually" provides a very simple yet elegant melody with a dark underlying tone to it.
The song that set this record apart from anything I have heard in a long time is Stephanie's stunning melodramatic rendition of Marilyn Manson's "Beautiful People". The slow finger picking that builds up the song, followed by chilling harmonies in the chorus combined with this original melody allows the true theme of this heavy classic to be more easily understood, as well as builds an underlying tension that is easy to fall in love with. This is definitely one of the best remakes I have heard to date.
I am thrilled to see the unbelievable growth of this artist but that being said one of my favorite Stephanie Bosch songs will always be "My Room" off of her album "Departures". The song has more of a sweet, innocent tone, similar to old Taylor Swift songs, except with much better lyrics. The Edmonton native recently packed up and moved to Toronto in search of furthering her career and I have no doubt that is exactly what she will do. With her non-stop commitment and dedication, Stephanie is arguably one of the most talented young musicians to come out of the Edmonton music scene to date. "Stupid Charlie" is available on ITunes for only $4.95 and you can hear some of her music on myspace at:
http://www.myspace.com/stephaniebosch
Make sure to keep your eyes out and ears open for any news.
That's all for now. I will be making a conscious effort to strictly keep up with these again after such a long hiatus since my last post. Keep checking back!
Live, Love, Sing
Matt
