Album Review: Marlisa – Marlisa
3 min read
Australian singer Marlisa Punzalen may be 15 years old, but she’s not what you would call child’s play; the starlet has become the youngest contestant to win the X Factor Australia this year, which is an extraordinary achievement. Her debut single Stand By You skyrocketed at number two on the ARIA charts, another example of how passionate her home country is about her, she has also been selected as Guy Sebastian’s support act for his 2015 Madness tour which will be phenomenal. As per winner, Marlisa signed a contract with Sony and has released her debut studio album featuring studio versions of the tracks that pulled her through her X Factor journey.
Marlisa’s debut single Stand By You is as upbeat as most of her winning predecessors, it’s pop but we have a chance to hear the rawness in the young star’s voice as she belts out the chorus and trills the verses; her rendition of The Beatles’ Yesterday rendered her audition successful, and rightfully so, the control she has over her voice is divine and in this track she’s as soothing as ever. The emotion Marlisa put into All By Myself by Eric Carmen is beyond her years, but she’s been singing since the tender age of three, she’s put over a decade into the conditioning of her tonal quality and range; another ballad given justice by Marlisa was Hopefully Devoted To You, originally performed by fellow Aussie Olivia Newton-John for the iconic Grease movie. Of course a cover of Frozen’s Let It Go was unavoidable for the competition, and who else besides Marlisa could pull it off?
We’ve listened to all the ballads on the album so far, but what really surprised was her take on Metallica’s power ballad Nothing Else Matters, what a wonderful rendition; Marlisa tackles pop icon and megastar P!nk and performed Try, she didn’t have to try very hard as she simply owned the track and made it sound natural; we finally hear a more upbeat number from Marlisa with her cover of Sia and David Guetta’s Titanium, her vocal is absolute perfection. The young singer’s array of performance throughout her journey spanned decades, she took us all back to The Wizard of Oz and performed a beautiful rendition of Somewhere Over The Rainbow; she brings us back to the now and owns Alicia Keys’ Girl On Fire as if she was the first singer to ever perform it. Last, but certainly not least, we had seen everything that Marlisa could make possible and that included her flawless take on James Arthur’s Impossible.
Throughout her journey on X Factor Australia’s sixth season, Marlisa successfully demonstrated why she was a worthy candidate for the crown; her seemingly effortless performances, her flawless studio recordings said performances, she’s just the whole package. If Australia had not of followed her story from day one, there would have been no imagining that the vocal powerhouse behind these performances were that of a 15 year old, she sings with such passion and emotion that even some seasoned singers still struggle to master. Congratulations Marlisa on your win, you will do your country proud!
