Teen Spirit

posted in: Music News

Alexandria Maillot is far from an ordinary teenager. Unless you consider graduation at 16, followed by music awards, performances overseas, songwriting credits on gold-selling records, and spot in Oprah’s Search for the World’s Smartest and Most Talented Kids ordinary. Think of her as a more grounded version of Miley Cyrus”an artist blessed with an equally powerful voice, a pretty face, but more likely to spend her free time volunteering with charities than trolling the streets in minuscule jean shorts. Hope and the power of positive thinking are common themes in Maillot’s songcraft. All We Need is a mercurial little number that segues from a doleful piano intro to a sailing power pop chorus. The message may be sappy but it’s sweet: You’re all good as long as you have a hand to hold. Revolution is soulful pop with a percolating bass line, where Maillot invites her fellow youth to rebuild society. If all the feel-goodness makes you queasy, put on Confession for a sexier, edgier kiss-off. Maillot is wholesome, sure. But she’s not squeaky clean. And in that one regard, she’s a completely ordinary teen.