Julia McKinnis, a Texan singer-songwriter, has just released her 2014 debut, The Good Has Won. It features her delightfully peppy vocals and her ukulele playing. With the belief that if everyone listened to the uplifting sound of the uke, there would be no wars, she set out to make a cheerful record. She has opened for acts like Gavin DeGraw, and has been influenced by such female artists as Ingrid Michaelson.
The opener, “Chemistry,” gives insight into what the rest of the album will sound like. It is undeniably cutesy, with a bouncy melody sung in a bubbly voice similar to that of Regina Spektor. Slightly different is “Give Your Love,” which is admittedly less adorable, but is still easy to bob up and down to with a smile on your face. “Don’t Mess With Texas Girls” is somewhat creepy, because it could have been threatening, had it not been sung in such an upbeat voice set to ukulele music. The title-track doubles as the closer, and has been featured in a Crayola crayon commercial, due to its appealing theme of adolescent happiness. It is impossible to be in a bad mood while listening to the song, making it a perfect choice for an ad aimed at the youth.
The Good Has Won is an amusing release, and right from the first track, instantly puts the listener into a good mood. Even though the songs themselves are pretty bare lyric-wise and mostly only feature her voice and her ukulele, the release flows together well. Her theory might be correct, because it seems nearly impossible to have bad things happen to the tune of a ukulele.
In A Word: Cutesy
