Mending hearts with Mel Monaco
Breaking up with her boyfriend wasn’t how Mel Monaco wanted to spend last summer. Turns out, it paid dividends for this summer.
The busy Niagara singer planned on having a new album out this August, and a bit of heartbreak was all the inspiration she needed.
By the time she was done, she had penned enough songs for a double album. Meeting up at a local cafe, she says the title - Falling
For the Third Time - was supposed to be about falling in love for a third time. It ended up being about falling out of love a third time.
“Love is a battlefield, as a wise woman once said,” she says with a laugh.
“You know, you can either sit in bed eating a tub of ice cream - which I’ve probably done my fair share - or you can use the overwhelming emotions that come to you and do something really positive with them.”
The album, Monaco’s third in five years, comes with song titles like Unglued, Take
It From Me and Untameable. The dark, sultry cover is a far cry from the playful images adorning her first two discs, 2012’s
Anything Goes and 2015’s These Are Just Suggestions.
A bruised heart has resulted in a more mature Mel.
“As I’m growing up, the hits are always a little bit harder,” she says. “You’re trying to find your path, trying to find your course. The things you want to accomplish and do in life.
“To inspire a double LP is when (something) comes out of nowhere, and you’re left with all this energy to just do something amazing. I’ve always said this…music was there for me before any man was. And it’s still there.”
She hasn’t gone moody, however. It’s probably impossible for Monaco, whose spunky brand of blues pop has earned her a loyal Niagara following. She has released two splashy pin-up calendars to raise funds for her videos, one of which - Single Again - won a Niagara Music Award last September.
Despite their inspiration, most every song on Falling For the Third Time sounds upbeat.
“I’m an opportunist, so I see everything as a chance to explore,” she says. “My free spirit has definitely taken me down some avenues.”
It certainly took her away from her original avenue. Monaco wistfully recalls being dropped off by her mom at McMaster University in Hamilton 10 years ago, to presumably start a career as a teacher. Instead, she returned to Niagara with a guitar in hand.
“I’d have never believed them if they had told me I’d have five calendars, three albums, six videos,” she says. “An opportunity to go to New York, to L.A., to Nashville to write. I would never believe it, in a million years.
“Granted, I have worked myself to these opportunities. But sometimes it still surprises me where I am.”
Monaco and her full band will play the entire new record during an Album Release show Saturday at the Niagara Folk Arts Centre in St. Catharines. Admission includes a copy of the CD.
On thing that’ll be missing? Her trademark fiery red hair.
“When I dyed my hair blonde, I got a lot of people going ‘Oh … we really liked the red! You should go back red!’ I was like, you know how long it’s taken me to go blonde?” jlaw@postmedia.com