Ciera Oulette - Bad Feelings

Ciera Oulette – Bad Feelings
2013, Simply Grand Music

Ciera Oulette is a native Tennessee, and grew up with country music to the soundtrack of her life.  It was also one of her earliest inspirations. The singing bug bit Oulette at the tender age of five, and she describes music as a life necessity on par with water and air.  The dedication Oulette has shown over the years is paying off.  Oulette’s new EP, Bad Feelings, is making waves on iTunes and across various digital outlets. 

Bad Feelings is a vehicle that will establish Oulette as a presence.  She has the ability to hold a listener captive, particularly when she stays in her vocal safe zone.  Trips outside of the zone can become perilously pitchy, as seen on the final track, “Waiting For You”.  Nonetheless, Oulette is a solid interpreter of song.  Her takeoff tune, “Bad Feelings” is catchy (though a bit repetitive), and shows off the best aspects of Oulette’s voice.  This is pretty standard country pop fair, but has an authentic commercial flavor that should play well to radio.  “If I Could” is a feel good love song.  The song is very catchy and radio-friendly, but Oulette spends too much time in her lower register, and the tone suffers accordingly.  “Don’t You Worry About Me” starts off as an old school country tune and turns schizophonic.  The lyrics are a bit rushed at times, and the song never really settles into its own groove.  We do get to hear Oulette show off the prettier party of her range here, however, so the song is something of a mess with a nice payoff.

Ciera Oulette has a nice voice, but song selection has the ability to derail her.  It’s a question of recognizing where your weaknesses and strengths are; avoiding the former and playing to the latter.  The songs on Bad Feelings aren’t terribly well crafted to fit Oulette’s range.  There’s a rough nature to the songwriting at times, but production has worked out some of the kinks and wrinkles.  Oulette has talent, and once she learns to rig the game in her favor she has the potential to do some big things.  Bad Feelings is a solid initial foray that shows off Oulette’s potential.

Rating:  3 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more at www.cieraoulette.com.