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This is unexpected coming from me, right?  A One Direction blog analyzing Demi Lovato?  Well, after I talked about Harry, Liam, Niall, and Louis, and then Zayn, the lovely @swiftlyhunter asked if I’d take a listen to “Stone Cold” and share my thoughts.  So here we are!

First of all, HOLY SHIT. I’d never been a big Demi fan. Nothing against her, she just never really crossed my ear-path all that often. Occasionally she’d pop up on Pandora and I would like the song. I also remember being impressed when “Skyscraper” came out, but I never really listened to her more than that. This song? That bitch TOOK ME TO CHURCH.  DAMN.  She is SO GOOD. It reminds me of the first time I ever saw Christina Aguilera in concert back when her first album came out.  I thought I was in for a fun teeny bopper who could carry a tune and I walked out completely blown away by her and Beyonce (Destiny’s Child was the opener).  

This series started when I had concern for Harry’s vocal health so it wast mostly me pointing out the problems he and subsequently the rest of the boys have. This installment is going to be me singing her praises (no pun intended. ok maybe a little intended). Not only is Demi Lovato an incredibly talented singer, but she is an incredibly SMART singer as well.

She knows proper vocal placement.  When I say vocal placement, I’m referring to whether she’s using chest voice, head voice, or mix.  Your chest voice is the voice you speak in.  Put your hand on your chest and say something.  You can feel the vibrations, right?  Your head voice, on the other hand, reverberates around your nasal and sinus cavities.  Mix is, well, exactly what it sounds like: a mix between both of these.  When you belt, you’re mostly pushing your chest voice as loud as you can on higher notes.  A lot of times singers will push too hard and too high and that’s when a lot of problems and strain come in.  A smart singer knows not only when to use chest voice, head voice, or mix, but can move seamlessly through all of them so you don’t even notice they’re doing that. And that, my friends, is exactly what Demi does.  

When she sings the lower notes at the beginning, it’s dark and it’s rich and it’s velvety and well-supported.  When she goes up the first time to sing “baby” in the first verse, it’s light and airy. Her belt is pure and strong and she digs down deep and ROCKS IT in the bridge.  It is direct and fierce and she’s using that chest voice, fully supported by her diaphragm or as we crudely like to say, that bitch sang from her vagina. And then...AND THEN!!  THE MONEY NOTE!! She teases you and then BOOM.  Hits that high note with her mix and if you’re not listening closely you think it’s pure belt.  I can not tell you how much I love that.   

This is where my concern started to ping for the first time.  First, it’s not the cleanest mix I’ve heard.  It does sound that she’s forcing it a little, perhaps a little too tight.  It’s not incredibly problematic, but I started to worry since she’ll be going on tour this summer.  She’s going to need to stay incredibly hydrated, warming up before every single performance, and making sure she gets PLENTY of rest between shows.  

BUT THEN!! I watched her live performances of the song and guys, let me tell you, this is where I think she (or whoever her coach may be) is so incredibly SMART.  First of all, she’s a fantastic performer.  When she’s signing this song, you can’t look away.  You are going on that journey right along with her. She makes some choices that aren’t technically perfect, but add a lot to the performance.  Remember how I mentioned in the Harry post how when you know the rules you can break them?  He doesn’t which is why I was bothered, but she VERY MUCH DOES and that’s why it WORKS.

What’s most impressive, however, is how she changes up the song.  In the first verse, instead of popping up to that airy “baby” as she does on the recording, she brings it down.  I’m guessing it’s because that tends to blow dry air over her vocal folds and helps save her voice for what’s to come.  Then when it comes to the ending of the song, she doesn’t go for that high money note, but yet (and this is what’s most impressive), she does it in a way that doesn’t make you miss it AT ALL.  Instead she does this cool run and holds out the note at  lower descending pitches for what feels like forever (which also shows off how well she uses her diaphragm).  Watch this. Tag Yourself, I”m Meghan Trainor (at least I think that’s MT?) at 2:56 being super impressed and shaking her head.

oh gosh!  I’ll honestly have to listen to her more.  She’s definitely one of those artists for me that every time she comes up on pandora or whatever i’m listening to I think “ooh! I really like this!!” and remember being super impressed when “Skyscraper” came out but haven’t listened in a while.