| Stained Glass Window - Mila Mason | |
|
Reviewed by Matt Bjorke
In the mid 1990's as country music was riding a huge wave of popularity, there were many artists who arrived in the Music City daily. Mila Mason may have seemed to be one artist who came to town around then but she had actually been plugging along in Nashville for quite a while when she secured her first record deal with Atlantic Records Nashville. After some moderate success with her 2 CDs with the label, she asked out of her contract to focus on her songwriting. Five years later, after securing two cuts on other artist's albums (Ty Herndon and Mindy McCready), Mila signed a record deal with a new independent label Twinbeat Records.
Produced by Mila with three other producers, Stained Glass Window features ten songs which Mila wrote with various Nashville writers, including Jim Collins and her husband Jason Grainger. Opening up the album is her fiery first single "Maybe, Maybe Not." Written with Collins, the song was also a single in 2002 for Mindy McCready but it went nowhere. On this CD it is sonically the same but Mila's voice has a fuller sound, a sound that carries the song, about a woman who realizes she has options for her love life, a lot more convincingly than Mindy did.
"Stained Glass Window" was recorded by Ty Herndon for a CD that was eventually changed into This Is Ty Herndon: The Greatest Hits. I heard Ty's version of the song and was smitten with it quite a bit. It's a story song about a woman who is superficially looked at by her hometown as a woman with "a colorful past" with "something to hide" but they didn't see the woman's inner beauty. The woman realized potential in many children that were seen as castoffs by others: "I used to stay at her house, her kids were my best friends, including me I couldn't count all the strays that she took in, she saw diamonds through the dirt, raised us all like we were hers, all the neighbors raised their brows, they never figured out it's a sin to break a stained glass window, just because your eyes can't see inside..." The melody is pure country and with that I hope it is released as a single and given its due; in other words, it deserves to be a hit.
With twin fiddles blaring, "Love Anymore" is an uptempo track that Mila calls a "Fun, fast, female song." She says it's her favorite song to perform for audiences and is actually one that was the brainchild of her two co-writers Tim Owens and Kelly Garrett. I can see this song doing well at country radio.
"Somebody Must Love Me" is a duet with Mila's new husband Jason Grainger. It's a beautiful testament that even when we least expect it, we can find love, even for someone who's "happy" as a single person, or from other places like God. The duet is strong and I think that Jason Grainger may get his own record deal out of this song.
With an infectious melody, "Unlove You" is a nice radio friendly song that tells the story of someone who feels trapped with a un-equal love; "So I can't, I can't unlove you." She goes on to say she can't see what she saw in the man in the first place but can't find the help to get out.
"Standing In My Own Way" is an honest song about how women will date anyone, especially ones who need help, because most of them feel they can "fix" anything that may be "wrong" with the guy. The song is designed to be an empowering anthem imploring women to move on to something better, especially since the relationship was doomed to begin with.
Mila Mason has been off the charts for what is an eternity in the music business, especially country music, but she is back with her best album ever. Stained Glass Window won't be for everyone but for those of us who like modern country music and can accept some of the "girl power" themes presented on here will enjoy the record.
Song List:
- Maybe, Maybe Not
- What Are The Odds
- Stained Glass Window
- Love Anymore
- Somebody Must Love Me (A Duet With Jason Grainger)
- Blame It On Me
- The Day Will Come
- Unlove you
- Loveazy
- Standing In My Own Way
Album cover used with permission of Twinbeat Records.