OUTscene Special
Whitney Mongé has a big, beautiful voice accompanied by the warmest, smoothest acoustic guitar I’ve heard in years. Her album Heartbeat is like a breath of fresh air in the Pacific Northwest. I first heard her performing live at the Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle and was so impressed I bought her album on the spot. Inside her guitar case is a cardboard sign that says “Art is sharing love with strangers” and Mongé clearly puts her heart and soul into her music. She began singing and playing guitar as a teenager, but intended to pursue a career behind-the-scenes when she attended the Art Institute of Seattle for audio engineering. A year into her training she began performing live but her education came in handy as she was able to write, perform, produce, record, mix and master her own album.
Heartbeat opens with the song Good Things, Mongé’s voice clear and melodic, and maybe the most folk-oriented song on the album, reminiscent of Tracy Chapman. Mongé describes her style of music as pop/soul and we definitely hear the soul come out in a raspy and somewhat ethereal Serenity, her lyrics “I know just what is mine/and I refuse to see the lines/shame is the game/but it’s who I’m supposed to be/and I identify the claim/just for some serenity, serenity, serenity” embedded into one’s brain after escaping into this song.
We get the blues with Mongé on Bad People (Get Gone) as she tells the story of people who would take advantage of her and “now I see who you are/no, I’m not your fool/you better get gone/get gone with it” are definitely lyrics many of us can relate to as we’ve stood up to low-down, dirty users and abusers who pretend to be friends or lovers. My So-Called Friends continues upon a theme, its whimsical melody ironic in combination with the less-than-happy lyrics, but pleasant to groove to nonetheless.
A Day of Rest and Walls both transport the listener on a jazzy ride through personal reflection and stories of love and mistakes and barriers to feeling that we hide behind. I know this singer/songwriter is on the young side, but she crafts her music like a well-seasoned professional beyond her years, musically and lyrically. “I can read you just like a book/and I know how you feel/know just how you feel” . . . and she does. Check out Mongé’s website for more information about her and where to purchase her album or see her perform.
Thank you so much for the write up!
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