M2M - The Big Room

The fact that a band like M2M can break through to the mainstream shows the growing acceptance of talented female artists in the music industry and while we've still got a long way to go its definitely a step in the right direction. We all must remember the comments that Alan from Shed Seven made about female drummers and who can forget Noel Gallaghers infamous "women can't really play guitar, but they can get a good shine on them" comment. Now in 2002, while we still have the stereotypical male fantasies like Atomic Kitten or the girls from S Club, there's a whole host of artists such as Michelle Branch and Amy Studt that look set to redefine the idea of a female as a talented artist rather than just being a bit of eye candy.

M2M's chief singer / songwriters  Marion Raven and Marit Larson wrote the whole of "The Big Room" with the exceptions of "Everything", "What You Do About Me" and "Miss Popular" which they co-wrote with Peter Zizzo and Jimmy Bralower. Its an infectious combination of pop melodies with the usual teenage drama's of boys, boys and well lets be honest boys...yet its moved on from their debut album "Shades of Purple" and displays a maturity befitting of their ages 17 and 18 respectively. It's no co-incidence that the very themes which Marion and Marit write with a simplistic nature and an emotional resonance provide the soundtrack for the likes of Dawson's Creak (of which they appear on the 100th episode in the near future) - it soundtracks exactly how teenage girls are feeling every single second and goes someway to explaining what those seemingly un-important teenage relationships mean to them.

Of course we've all been there when those feelings of jealousy blind our judgement and we hit out at everybody because that boy / girl of our dreams seems simply unattainable. For those who have ever felt this way its hard to dismiss the likes of "Jennifer" or "Miss Popular" as throwaway pop tunes and you really have to seem them as relevant to a 13 year old girl as a band like the Smiths are to a university bedsit depressive.

While it may seem patronizing to say so "The Big Room" is a tremendous achieve for girls their age, especially when you align it with the traditional pop par we've been fed year on year. Like all teenage girls there is no knowing whether they will be bosom buddies in a few years but I'll put my money on it that together or apart they'll still be making fantastic relevant essential music.

Alex McCann

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