Though I tried, I couldn't be there for you

I have to say, it's been a disappointing past couple of days in terms of albums for me. Maria Arrendondo's latest album is one of those albums so far for me (though maybe time will change that; to be honest, my listening so far has been superficial at best), but there are at least three complete and utter gems on it that are quality through and through. One of those is "Brief And Beautiful," which I've posted before and is still just as lovely as it ever was. I'd love to get a look at the writing credits for this CD just to see who wrote the other two songs I like on the album, but I don't feel I can justify buying the whole physical album if I'm so far that unenthusiastic about it (and the cover and new promotional shots aren't exactly enticing me into buying it either). Enough being negative, though--let's move on to what I do like, namely (besides "Brief And Beautiful") "For The Best" and "Too Much Ain't Enough." These are both songs that fit Maria's voice very well but that I can also see being part of the recycled songs circuit, so I wouldn't be surprised to find out that they were or will be released by other artists. "Too Much Ain't Enough" is a mid-tempo pop song, with Marie wistful as usual, albeit in a stronger way than on some other songs; the song relies on hitting the first and last words of each line of the chorus strongly. At the moment, I think I prefer the following song more, though.

For The Best--I guess this is mid-tempo as well, but it also feels somewhat more ballady than "Too Much Ain't Enough." Primarily piano-based, this song takes full advantage of Maria's voice--she does this...well, I used the word "wistful" before, but I'm not sure how accurate that is (especially for this song's lyrics). She sounds lovely on this song, though, whatever the proper word to describe its tone is. If you were really the guy she was singing to, I don't think you'd find much comfort from her assurances that your break-up was for the best and she didn't mean to hurt you and that she'll still be there for you as a friend--sure, there's some pretense at sympathy, but I imagine for her former partner she'd sound a little too strong and a little too magnanimous for her words to make him feel better at all. That's not so important for the listeners, though--the strength in the way Maria sings here makes the song catchier. And every now and then, just because that's the way Maria's voice works, it does sound like she is really experiencing some sad emotion. In essence, lovely catchy kind of MOR-y song theoretically expressing regret to the person Maria's broken up with.

Edit: or, actually paying closer attention to the lyrics, maybe a more likely interpretation for the reason Maria talks about remembering breaking his heart and making him cry so much is because she's trying to make herself feel better--those opening verses sure make it sound like her partner has moved on and is doing OK; maybe she's more trying to reassure herself, remembering what she felt like, even if she dwells mainly on her memories of the other person, not of how she felt--comparing how she actually felt and feels to what he actually felt and feels would be too painful. "Know that it was for the best" is probably more sung in hopes she'll remind herself (who still has a picture of this guy on her wall) of that fact (or hope) than to actually remind her ex-boyfriend, currently "doing fine" and with a new girl, of it, even if she's pretending it's vice-versa.

To buy Maria Arredondo's album For A Moment, go here (physical).

Next up: maybe that American singer.