Singer Maria McKee’s Switch to Showier Style Feels Forced

Maria McKee should have been one of the great pop stars of the 1980s. Her overstated, under-focused set on Wednesday at the Galaxy Theatre in Santa Ana found this exceptional raw talent getting ever more lost in the ‘90s.

As the 21-year-old frontwoman of Lone Justice, McKee debuted brilliantly with an album of hard-rocking twang, backed up by the captivating, dervish-like frenzy of her live performances.

Now, at 34, she evidently has decided that country music, for which she showed a natural instinct, isn’t her thing, nor is the soul music grounding that she has used as a platform for fiery singing. Instead, she pinned most of her 13-song performance on an excessive, Broadway-like theatricality that turned her commanding voice too readily toward showy bombast.

With a low-key duo supplying bass, guitars and keyboards to go with her own guitars and piano, McKee stripped away the sonic clutter that marred “Life Is Sweet,” her ill-conceived 1996 attempt at modern rock. But giving those songs room to breathe didn’t help them flourish.

There were glimmers of hope in a couple of her new songs, one a Who-ish anthem, the other a sultry breeze of jazz-pop a la Cassandra Wilson. A willingness to try on a wide range of styles can betoken an adventurous musical spirit, but McKee’s efforts seem forced rather than natural outgrowths of her best work.