Melt- Complete Artist Review
Complete Artist Review after listening to every record. Here you will find an overview of Melt as well as my personal rankings of their records and EPs. Also, you will find my Top 10 Songs and link to my Essentials Playlist in this pages 1st photo.
Click on other photos for surprise Easter Egg links!
Melt
Melt’s music has always felt alive—equal parts heart, harmony, and horn section. Formed in New York and originally sparked by a group of college friends, the band quickly carved out a space of their own by fusing indie-pop with jazz flourishes, dynamic vocals, and a live energy that bled into every recording. But what makes Melt stand out is more than just musical chops—it’s the way they create momentum inside softness, urgency inside warmth.
Their 2017 debut single Sour Candy laid the groundwork immediately. Jazzy organs, a sultry saxophone, a guitar solo that builds into a full-blown climax—it was clear they weren’t just playing with genre, they were playing with form. Lead vocalist Veronica Stewart-Frommer’s range is front and center here, sustaining notes with control and emotion while the band builds a vibrant, shifting landscape underneath her.
Follow-up single Inside showed a different side—more spacious and bass-led, but with the same gradual build and payoff. The brass sections are tucked into the arrangement more subtly, and by the final chorus, the vocals crack open into full jazz grit. It’s a song that grows, not just in energy but in identity.
When Oh Brother dropped later that year, it introduced the second piece of Melt’s vocal puzzle: Eric Gabriel. His somber, rich tone balances perfectly with Veronica’s brighter delivery, and this track lets him fully stretch out. From smooth falsetto to grounded baritone, he glides between them with ease. The instrumentation here is looser—letting trumpet, sax, and electric guitar take turns spotlighting—but nothing ever feels overdone. It’s dynamic in the way only live-first bands really nail.
Their next two singles—Stupid in Love and Shy—pushed even further into the band’s rhythm-forward instincts. Stupid in Love plays like a slow waltz, anchored by rim-click drums and a bassline that takes the lead. The male and female vocals blend beautifully here, and the jazz organ setting gives it that signature Melt color. It ends in a group choral lift that somehow feels both grand and restrained—elevated, but not out of proportion. Shy, on the other hand, is pure burst. The brass walk-downs are irresistibly catchy, the groove is tight, and Veronica absolutely lets loose vocally. It’s a track that sounds effortless—like a band fully in sync with itself.
By the time they released the West Side Highway EP in 2021, Melt had started to shift direction. The jazz flourishes were still present, but scaled back in favor of more atmosphere and introspection. Tracks like Don’t Want Me and Never Be Alone introduced a quieter, more delicate side of the band. It wasn’t a reinvention—but it was a reset. A chance to breathe before the next evolution. (Full EP review here.)
Their post-EP singles showed a band still experimenting but with more restraint. Fade Into You rides warped synths, trumpet riffs, and electric guitar lines with a slow-build confidence. Walk to Midnight trades the jazz organ for a richer piano tone, pairing falsetto harmonies with sharp, bouncy keys. Both songs feel angelic without floating away—tight, controlled, and full of personality.
Their live cover of Harvest Moon in 2022 might be the most raw and cinematic moment in their discography. It’s dreamy, but with a quiet power behind it. You can feel the emotion just pouring through the performance—the belt toward the end is staggering, but it never feels performative. It’s a reminder that this band’s secret weapon isn’t just their ability to play, it’s their ability to feel.
In 2023, they released Sour Candy (Reimagined) with Maya Delilah, softening the edges of their debut and reshaping it into something warmer and more intimate. With layered harmonies and a more relaxed groove, it played like a retrospective—less like a redo, more like a memory of the song you loved the first time.
That memory became fully realized in 2024 with their debut album, If There’s a Heaven. It’s a record that trades in their early looseness for something more polished and emotionally complete. From the synthy shimmer of Fake Romantic to the stunningly gentle closer Communion, the band leans into pop structures without losing their identity. And even when the jazz is dialed back, the sense of dynamic movement—the rising and falling of tension, the vocal trade-offs, the carefully placed instrumental flourishes—still rings through. (Full LP review here.)
If Melt’s early years were defined by genre fusion and vocal flexibility, their recent work is marked by maturity. They're more focused, more cohesive, and somehow more themselves than ever before. It’s not that they’ve left anything behind—it’s that they’ve learned how to shape it all into something cleaner, deeper, and more lasting.
Album Rankings
If There’s a Heaven (2024)
West Side Highway EP (2021)
Top 10 Songs
(In No pARTICULAR oRDER)
Sour Candy (Single)
Stay For The High (Single)
Walk to Midnight (Single)
Harvest Moon (Single)
Heaven (If There’s a Heaven)
Through the Wall (If There’s a Heaven)
The Idiot (If There’s a Heaven)
Veronica’s Apology (If There’s a Heaven)
Fade Into You (Single)
Shy (Single)
Melt’s story so far is one of constant motion—never rushing, but never standing still. From the jazz-splashed exuberance of Sour Candy to the polished confidence of If There’s a Heaven, they’ve proven they can expand, refine, and reinvent without losing the spark that made them worth following in the first place. If their debut LP is any indication, this is a band only just getting started. And when they hit their next stride, you’ll want to be able to say you’ve been here since the beginning.