CREDIT: JUSTN MELI
MIA's Justin Meli released an EP featuring talent from the program as well as outside talent. It gets a thumbs up from this reviewer.

From Fanshawe College’s Music Industry Arts student Justin Meli comes a well-crafted EP featuring talent of his peers and from outside of the MIA bubble.

Between The Trees is – by the most general and fair definition – a folk/rock release that balances the tradition of relatable folk song writing and the addition of contemporary elements with great effect. This release’s roots are prominent and its writing reminiscent of traditional styles from the revival folk movement in the 20th century. Lyrics in folk music are the most essential part of this style because it has historically and will always be music of the average person. The greats like Pete Seegar, Bob Dylan, Woodie Gutherie and Carter Family were evident of this in their simplistic but convincing vocal delivery.

While the traditional roots music is present and strong, Meli also has a contemporary feel in his tunes. The precise layering in each song is particularly enjoyable as every instrument felt like they fit and did not distract from the vocal at all. It sounds straightforward, but this is hard to do when you have access to a lot of instruments and the auditory buffet that is digital recording. You can tell from the credits on this release that Meli had some heavyweights playing the often-overlooked producer role, and this is certainly going to be one of his most important pieces of his promising music career.

Alongside this contemporary role are the small portions of rock and country that seep into the more upbeat and ballad-like songs, such as the opening, “Out of Her Sight,” and “Crippled Backs.” It’s not overbearing or in-your-face, but it’s not unnoticeable either. Fans from each of these strains will find something enjoyable throughout the EP and will hopefully be looking forward to more of his work in the future.

Together, this release feels like something that Meli really put time, effort and heart into. It sounds cliché and corny, but this is important for singer-songwriter music in an environment where the inclination is to become too esoteric in delivery. To take what is – at its core – a simple song and develop it into something that sticks out from the rest is sometimes harder than writing a musically intricate piece. This is an opinion, of course, as some people would say the opposite. This is difficult only because it takes soul and passion to develop a song that is straightforward whereas a more complicated piece is mathematical in the sense that through theory, you can figure out what fits. Anyone can learn theory given the time and practice, but not everyone can develop soul.

So, in a condensed snippet of what is certainly to be the beginning of a great musical career, Between the Trees is a great step in the right direction. It’s not out of the question to compare it to the greats like Woodie Gutherie and Bob Dylan while also contending that its modern vibe makes it truly a unique production.

This is no surprise when you look at the people who are backing it. MIA’s own Rob Nation mastered it and Mike Roth helped develop the sequence, perfectly using both of these instructors skill sets to their advantage. With engineering credits to Brandon Pero – a particularly talented peer of ours – and Pat Fockler, Meli also took the brave and difficult step of mixing his own work with fantastic results. You can stream the EP and purchase it at his Bandcamp page justinmeli.bandcamp.com.