WHEN Melanie Dyer appeared on season one of The Voice Australia three years ago, she did not turn one chair.
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But every judge visibly kicked themselves when they saw what they missed.
Mega-star Keith Urban seemed especially interested and asked if she might perform one of her own compositions.
After she sang a second time, the judges groaned with Joel Madden in conniptions because he had not picked the Mount Russell girl.
That moment opened a door for now 21-year-old Mel who releases her debut single, Lifetime, today on iTunes.
The track comes with the pre-order of her EP of the same name available on April 10.
The album is a fresh, kicky pop-country meld that embraces the fun in life, and offers the listener a feel-good experience from go to whoa.
Mel looked back on that moment that proved a catalyst in her career.
“I was really lucky to perform a second song, and especially an original, called Maybe in Mercury,” she said.
That was in 2012 after Mel had finished at Inverell High School. She signed with Universal later in the year and made the move to Sydney in 2013. It was a great fit.
Performances and the monthly trips for the Talent Development Project had the singer heading south with frequency so she took the urban landscape in stride.
“I don’t think it was too overwhelming because I’ve been involved I the industry since I was about 12,” Mel said.
“I’d already made such a network of people in the industry over the years, that when I moved to Sydney, it felt like the right place to be for me.”
Mel felt that coming from the farm, she identifies as a country girl, and has a country music as her foundation. But as she grew older, Mel absorbed the music of her generation.
“I started to experience different things and more of pop background started to be a part of me as well, so my style is story of a pop-country style, but it’s still evolving,” she explained.
She said Universal recognised that musical fusion and encouraged her direction. Mel has been putting lyrics on paper with guitar in hand for almost a decade, and sat down to collaborate with accomplished songwriter Lindsay Rimes. Lindsay’s songs have been snapped up by stellar artists like the McClymonts, Daryl Braithwaite, Tina Arena, and the Madden brothers.
Melanie said the opportunity to co-write with Lindsay and seeing the results at day’s end was incredible.
You have to throw it all out there. In a co-writing session you really have to throw down your fourth wall, and collaborating with him, I definitely learned a lot,” she said.
“And I think, the first time I heard Lifetime, which is the debut single that will be released, I think the last ten years of my life, my career in the music industry sort of all amounted to that moment, and I felt so right in that moment.
“It’s an amazing feeling.”
She acknowledged the industry was a challenge, but it seems this young artist has already developed a firm philosophy to follow her passion.
“I think if you stay true to who you are, and be yourself, then you’ll do ok. You definitely have to love it, and I’m lucky that I do love it, but it can be hard and tests you at times,” Mel said.
“But it’s all worth it in the end, when you can hear something you’ve recorded from scratch.”
Mel will be taking her new album on the road beginning April 10 in Newcastle, but will perform for her hometown crowd with a concert at the Union Bar on Saturday, April 18.
