After the release of 2007’s In the Ballroom, both Keith Saunders and Meredith DiMenna of Saint Bernadette started to hear voices.
Newly joined in the bonds of Holy Matrimony, ending a 7-year stint of living in sin, Meredith and Keith interpreted the sudden appearance of the voices as a sign from the High Holy Power of Music and Creativity.
I Wanna Tell You Something was born.
Where In the Ballroom featured anthems for "ethical sluts", Daddy’s girls, and hookers with hearts of gold, I Wanna Tell You Something pays homage to an illusory, impossible love affair. Featuring sing along choruses, twisted circus melodies, and one crushing ballad, the EP’s five songs detail a journey of longing through temptation, despair, whimsy, audacity, and vulnerability.
Kick off track “In Between” is an unspoken come-on, while follow up “Love is a Stranger” suffers the regret that follows the unsaid. Sweet girl group harmonies ornament “One in a Million”, until barn burner, “Hard to Believe” delivers a sonic slap to the face and a shot of tequila. The title track “I Wanna Tell You Something”, a last minute inspiration, is a sweet invitation to stay up all night.
I Wanna Tell You Something, moves past the retro quality of In the Ballroom and its comparisons to Shirley Bassey, Peggy Lee, and Billie Holliday and into the modern territory of the Deal sisters and KT Tunstall.
“There are times when we accidentally might sound like Kelly Clarkson,” says Meredith. “Not true,” says Keith. In truth, the album owes little to the American Idol, but might recall the gymnastic nature of her pipes and some selective Yeah Yeah Yeahs-style guitars. How can a band be channeling both pop princesses and post punk rock? “For the most part, I’m just singing as hard as I can,” says Meredith. “I ain’t ashamed.”
Just as Bernadette changed the future of her hometown of Lourdes forever with her unexplained visions, Saint Bernadette, the rock band, is poised to put their hometown, in the ill-considered state of Connecticut, on the indie music map. The album was recorded again in Bridgeport, with producer Chris Sanchez (The Flesh, Stylofone) at his studio, Sanchez Dos. It was further was co-produced and mixed by Keith at his home studio, Running Water Labs.
Running in tandem with side project, The Priestess and The Fool, featuring duets performed by Meredith and label mate, Brian Grosz, and skillfully produced by Keith, Saint Bernadette’s 2008 output is truly miraculous.
To paraphrase the 1943 movie The Song of Bernadette: “For those who believe, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not believe, no explanation is possible.”
I Wanna Tell You Something will be released March 4th.
Saint Bernadette's previous album "In The Ballroom" was the result of a 3-day marathon session in an abandoned ballroom in their hometown of Bridgeport, CT. Reviews glowed like the Virgin herself. . .
"Watch out Shirley Bassey. Meredith DiMenna of Saint Bernadette wields an old-school femme fatale voice that would be perfect for the next 20 years of James Bond themes."-- HARP MAGAZINE
"I'll be damned if Saint Bernadette's retro-flavored rock/rhythm-n-blues menagerie isn't getting me through the coldest week of the winter... If you've ever wished Gentleman was recorded from a female perspective, your wait is over."-- MY OLD KENTUCKY BLOG
"These 11 originals hint at retro '60s styled mood with contemporary touches. But it's the subtle dynamics that elevate the material; lap steel guitar brings a somewhat ghostly approach to the songs as DiMenna's husky, sexy singing weaves through the spaces in the sound. Turn the lights down low, burn some incense, and lose yourself in Saint Bernadette's intense yet lithe charms."
--Allmusic.com
"The debut album from Connecticut’s Saint Bernadette hits the sort of notes and touches that make me weak in the knees, by expertly melding things I’m a sucker for: ballsy broads, smoke-filled jazz clubs, and, of course, the element of surprise."
--Carrie Alison, Sentimentalist Magazine
"The small, big band whose sound can be as sweet and lofty as heaven and
as down and dirty as hell."
--Gary, Independisc.com
"The music on "In the Ballroom," is seductive, eclectic, sophisticated and a natural fit for DiMenna's superlative voice."
--Stamford Advocate
"a group that has matured like Uma Thurman--getting sleeker, sexier and ever more butt-kicking as time progresses. Meredith DiMenna's voice bursts out with a cutting, shimmery power."
--Fairfield Weekly
"Meredith DiMenna & Keith Saunders have exported some very cool sultry sounds from Bridgeport , Connecticut. The live recorded debut album..In The Ballroom..is sickeningly good , smoothly rounded & fantastically mixed by Peter Katis.
Superb lounge vocals & Jazz filled Beats ... Pass me my slippers!"
--Mojophenia Promotions, UK
"They'll make you drool."
--Hartford Courant
"Right off the bat, you note that Meredith DiMenna's voice is captivating - it's got a sultry heft to it, a growl . . ."
-- NYrock.com
"If you're not horny after that set then there's something wrong with you"
--Johnny Toymaker
Produced by Chris Sanchez (The Flesh, The Fever, Stylofone, Chunky Pam)
Mixed by Peter Katis (Interpol, The National, Mates of State, Tokyo Police Club)
Engineered by Matt Lane, Lane Sound
Mastered by Nathan James, Jigsaw Sound
Here's a teaser video for Mer's new side project "The Priestess and The Fool" - a 6-song EP of duets with Dogs of Winter frontman, Brian Grosz
