Published on Jul 9, 2000
I don’t know what to think of Heather Miller’s debut release
Send Me An Angel.
On the one hand, her voice is pleasing and she sings with plenty
of passion. On the other hand, there’s a fair bit of “next big
thing” pretension around her – she’s pictured liberally throughout
the booklet with one guitar or another, but there’s no evidence she
even plays in the disc credits.
She writes a lot of her own material, but she does so with big
name song writers like producers Michael Tait (dcTalk) and former
Grammatrain lead singer Pete Stewart, and song doctor John
Mandeville.
She’s a little bit Dolly Parton and a whole lot Crystal Lewis,
(“I’m a little bit country. I’m a little bit rock and roll.” Whoa.
Bad flashback there for a minute.) with just a dab of Russ Taff
thrown in for good measure.
She’s a potent mix of blue-eyed soul, acoustic driven pop,
R&B, and rock and roll – but from time to time it all sounds
more like a contrived mix. And that’s what leaves me a little
unsettled about the disc.
It is imminently satisfying aurally and lyrically so I’m going
to have to work with what I hear, rather than what I feel. It’s
time to pull out the benefit of the doubt. I think Miller is a
rising talent, but it’s likely she’s being “handled” a little too
much, know what I mean?
The three-song start off to this disc, “Angel,” “We Will See
Him,” and “Life To Me,” is as good a beginning one could ask for.
In the opening rocker, Miller sings about feeling surrounded by
God’s care in the provision of angels at just the times in her life
when she needs them:
Oh, it’s the tide that soothes my soul Oh, when the
waves have lost control Oh, it’s the light that leads me home Right
when I need You too Send me an angel.
Next comes the radio hit, “We Will See Him,” which is praise and
worship music with a killer beat and a seriously melodic hook. This
song is the aural equivalent of oatmeal – it tastes good and sticks
with you.
But, then comes the highlight of the disc, “Life To Me,” the
first ballad. This song shines and shimmers with emotion. Written
with Mandeville, “Life…” tells the story of a seeker who’s
finally found what she’s been looking for — and the feeling of
assurance that provides:
Spent all my life trying to find the truth that’s in Your
eyes
Here at last, no turning back. I’m safe in Your arms.
You opened the Heavens and set me free.
Your love is life to me, you’re all my heart desires.
You’re more than I’ve ever dreamed. You set this soul on
fire.
Miller sings with such sincerity, that it’s easy to be drawn
into the songs she’s singing — the stories she’s telling — the
testimony she’s giving.
With more than adequate help from Tait and Stewart (background
vocals and instrumental support throughout in addition to producing
chores), Miller makes the best use of her new friends –
particularly on the almost note-for-note remake of Danny Tate and
Danny Wilde’s “Winds of Change” from Russ Taff’s 1989 album
The Way Home and, incidentally, his 1995 country disc,
Winds Of Change. Miller takes what is already a great song,
and with a little – no, make that a lot – of help from her friends
almost makes it her own declaration.
While she’s a spot-on match for the song vocally (as are Tait
and Stewart in “featured” vocal appearances), Miller seems just a
tad young to be singing something so blatantly mature:
The hands of time go round and round.
They don’t slow down when you lose your way.
At every turn, the things you learn,
You wear them proud like you wear your name.
And as you go on down that road,
Don’t let the dust get in your eyes.
It blows in the winds of change.
That’s all true, and Russ Taff certainly knew that when he
recorded it in 1989, but Miller’s publicity materials indicate
she’s two years out of college and I’m guessing that puts her right
around 24, maybe.
I remember thinking I had all that experience when I was her age
too – but I was wrong. The only hands of time that I’d seen go
round and round were the ones on my Timex – and I suspect the same
of Miller. It’s one of those “contrived” moments, but she sure
sounds great.
Miller’s disc shows a lot of promise. I do find myself listening
to it frequently. But, I also find myself wondering what the next
one will be like.