“riveting” New Yorker
“postclassical siren” Time Out NY
“Versatile and compelling….” NY Times
“A dazzling diva adept at old and new music” Time Out NY
“A versatile soprano who excels in both standard classical repertory and modern works, Ms. Hughes sounded idiomatic and perky in indie-pop songs, and brought convincingly soulful grit to gospel numbers.” NY Times
“Equally impressive is his co-vocalist Mellissa Hughes….. I actually wasn’t prepared for the strength of her physical performance in The Little Death. When she gutted out the the familiar tune “He Touched Me” while wearing a virginal wedding dress and sashaying toward Boy, Hughes came across as confused in the most delectable of ways. But when she turned it into a degraded, Madonna-at-the-1984-VMAs pole dance, everyone in the tiny St. Mark’s Church gym seemed under her crypto-erotic-religious spell. Developmental hiccups aside, I can always make time for that.” The Awl
“excellent and versatile…. with unmistakable, powerful lust,” The Big City
“Never have I heard a sexier performance of my grandmother’s favorite hymn. And it makes me uncomfortable, which is precisely why I love it so much.” The Indie Handbook
“Thanks to her own strong vocals, Hughes is able to navigate the jumpiness of the music well, and her dirty, thrusting rendition of “He Touched Me,” in a wedding dress, is quite raucous and absurd, like something out of a Kate Bush music video.” Backstage
“angelic vocals (Mellissa Hughes) float over dance floor-ready beats on title track “Cathedral City,” Victoire Debut Album MVRemix Rock
“sultry, bright, infectious” Altsounds
“the pipes and the energy reminiscent of the high priestess of alt-music, Diamanda Galas.” Brooklyn Heights Blog
“Vocalist Mellissa Hughes delivered an intense performance, ripping through the poem with a voice that mixed haunting and beautiful.” Feast of Music
Mellissa Hughes - Soprano 