Mêlée: Devils and Angels

Merriam-Webster defines "melee" as a confused struggle and a hand-to-hand fight among several people. It was that definition that would lead four band members to use it as their collective name, to describe what they represented the most, a musical melee. One listen to Mêlee and it is apparent who their influences are; think if Elton John, Jack's Mannequin, Ben Folds and The Fray had a "melee" who would be left standing? Well, Mêlee.

Mêlee present their own musical style of carefully crafted melodic pop on their newest album Devils & Angels, that was released back in April on Warner Brothers records. The songs, which range from driving pop-rock anthems to uplifting power ballads and are all relatable to early twenty-something's...mainly because the band consists of a bunch of twenty-something's.

"The album is very universally appealing-- lyrically," says Mêlee guitarist Ricky Sans. "We try to appeal to everyone's feelings and strike that common chord with everyone."

Devils & Angels may seem like an album full of relationship songs, but listen closer and dig deeper and you'll find evidence of things we go through everyday, characterized by solid hooks, lilting melodies, along with lead singer Chris Cron's voice and expressive piano-playing.