It’s very exciting to have new music from Jamie McDell, and this new track is very her. She has definitely gone back to her country roots rather than stick with her previous Pop elements and it’s a good move. Tori is a song about a relationship which I’m sure a lot of people could relate too.
Jamie’s vocals are great on this track, especially accompanied with Kasey Chambers' harmonies. The song structure and instrumentals are quite simple, but it doesn’t need anything else. Though there’s a bit where the instrumentals stop, apart from a muted guitar, which adds a something extra to the song. I can also hear guitar, piano and bass which are subtle, and they don’t try to overshadow each other or the vocals.
Tori flows together effortlessly, and the single art also compliments the track beautifully.
★★★★★ (5 stars)
Review written by Shelley Te Haara
When she was just age 7, Jamie McDell’s father left a high paying job at an elite Auckland law firm to shift her mother, younger sister and Jamie onto the high seas and began living aboard a yacht in the Mediterranean. It’s here Jamie wrote her first song, a sea shanty to the dolphins. Also on that yacht lived a small collection of her parents’ favourite cassette tapes, which luckily included albums by Jimmy Buffett, John Denver and James Taylor. The young artist quickly formed a particularly strong bond with these records and she fondly remembers watching her parents perform Buffett duets - and occasionally chiming in, learning how to harmonise with her mother and sister. An eager learner, Jamie then picked up the guitar after studying her fathers’ John Denver chord book collection and has never looked back.
Now at age 30, New Zealand singer/songwriter Jamie McDell has achieved a prolific amount in her formative years. Being signed to EMI at age 16 sparked the beginning of a successful musical journey, making her a household name across the nation. With the release of her debut album Six Strings and a Sailboat, she went on to achieve Gold album sales, receive three NZ Music Award nominations, winning Best Pop Album of 2013. Then her sophomore record Ask Me Anything gained global attention, seeing album track Moon Shines Red featured on American TV series 'Pretty Little Liars'.
In March 2017 Jamie made a trip to Nashville, looking for a change of scenery and to