RADAR: Magnolia Memoir

Singer/frontwoman Mela Lee and keyboardist/bandleader Alexander Burke are the founders and dual creative forces behind Magnolia Memoir, a genre-jumping (sm)art/pop band that's been a mainstay at L.A. folk/pop clubs like Largo and King King over the past couple of years. In possession of a voice that's part Billie Holiday smoky seduction and part Gwen Stefani coy pop vixen, Lee and her band swing, shake and strut their way through an evershifting melange of styles on their new album The Perfect Crime (February 28, Peak/E1), touching (and smashing through) alt/pop, jazzy, brassy soul and slow burning torch songs with unrestrained glee. Whether they're tackling an incendiary version of The White Stripes "My Doorbell" (video below), the wistful bluesy lament "Good Girl" or classic-sounding pop/soul rave-up "I Keep Falling", Magnolia Memoir keeps things sleek and playful -- though you know there's a slightly dark and demented lurking behind the smile, a ragged run in the nylons and a scuff or two in the patent leather pumps.

Magnolia Memoir - "I Keep Falling" (from The Perfect Crime)

Magnolia Memoir - "Good Girl" (from The Perfect Crime)

Download a free holiday-themed EP from Magnolia Memoir here...