Hallelujah! After what seemed like an interminably long wait, the "light at the end of the tunnel" is near. Yes, my friends, Haley is close to releasing her new album; you know, the one all her fans have been clamoring for since late July when it was first announced that she signed with Interscope (wow, has it been that long since my first post???!!!). Anyhoo, nearly six months and some 20 posts later, Haley finally announced via Twitter that her first single 'Free' is due out in March. This timing is auspicious, as it was a year ago in March when this ravishing beauty first caught my eyes and ears during her soulful performance of Alicia Keys's 'Fallin' back on March 2, 2011. Ahhhhh, sweet memories.
What gave me strength over the long months of waiting is my certain knowledge that Haley, along with all her collaborating songwriters and producers, poured their "blood, sweat and tears" into this album. The project is in many ways a 'labor of love' for Haley, and that makes it so much more special than just making a commercial pop album for its own sake. So what kind of album is it, precisely? Just as Haley proved frustratingly difficult to grasp last season, repeatedly eluding JLo's and Randy's vain attempts to categorize or put her neatly into a box or musical genre (maybe that's partly why they were so mean to her), Haley's new album promises to be equally diverse and eclectic. And I'll admit that's exactly the way I like it. Here's a soundbite from her interview with 'She Knows Reality TV Magazine' on 8/15/2011:
"I’m looking to do a very bluesy/sultry album with a lot of different genres incorporated; (I) have a little jazz in there and some funk and rock and I really just see it meshing all together."
And when asked what type of music she'll have on the album by The Daily Herald three days later she had this to say on 8/18/2011:
"I would love to mix it up. I'm really going to try to sneak jazz in. I know I have a lot of that soul R&B in me so I definitely want to try to get that across as well as funk, rock and a jazzy flavor. I think I told you before it sounds like a lot but I mean all of these things compact into one. As long as your style comes through, I think it's easy to tell."
In other words, it's not so much 'what' you sing but 'how' you sing it. Just consider how Haley changed The Animals' popular folk song 'House of the Rising Sun' into something else entirely, something sultry, bluesy and jazzy at the same time through a combination of a capella solo-ing, rearrangements and altering (slowing down) the song's tempo. In her 'Austin City Limits' interview, 2011 Grammy-winner Esperanza Spalding (whose fans include Haley and Casey by the way) said every major genre of music, whether it's rock, folk, soul/R&B, jazz or country, are all "deeply stewed" in the blues tradition. All music are interconnected and interrelated, and you see elements of one genre cross over into another seamlessly. "Improvisation, communication and solo-ing" are the key elements in all music.
Featured below are two of Haley's performances that further illustrate all this. The first is her memorable 'Benny and the Jets' swan song at the end of the Top 3 results show. Improvisation and communication are in evidence there. The second is her near-a capella 'House of the Rising Sun' performance on Regis & Kelly, in which her ample solo-ing skills are on display.
Lastly, though I don't usually like to dabble in gossip, James Durbin confirmed at his wedding (congrats!) last week that Haley and seventh-place finalist Stefano Langone are going out. So I guess we guys can finally just all 'fergedabout it' and go on with our daily lives, haha. So can Casey for that matter. Stefaley fans and all teenage girls who think they make a cute couple can rejoice. Here's wishing them all the best in their courtship. No, really.
Seeya in a few when I give my impressions on Haley's new single. L8r.
What gave me strength over the long months of waiting is my certain knowledge that Haley, along with all her collaborating songwriters and producers, poured their "blood, sweat and tears" into this album. The project is in many ways a 'labor of love' for Haley, and that makes it so much more special than just making a commercial pop album for its own sake. So what kind of album is it, precisely? Just as Haley proved frustratingly difficult to grasp last season, repeatedly eluding JLo's and Randy's vain attempts to categorize or put her neatly into a box or musical genre (maybe that's partly why they were so mean to her), Haley's new album promises to be equally diverse and eclectic. And I'll admit that's exactly the way I like it. Here's a soundbite from her interview with 'She Knows Reality TV Magazine' on 8/15/2011:
"I’m looking to do a very bluesy/sultry album with a lot of different genres incorporated; (I) have a little jazz in there and some funk and rock and I really just see it meshing all together."
And when asked what type of music she'll have on the album by The Daily Herald three days later she had this to say on 8/18/2011:
"I would love to mix it up. I'm really going to try to sneak jazz in. I know I have a lot of that soul R&B in me so I definitely want to try to get that across as well as funk, rock and a jazzy flavor. I think I told you before it sounds like a lot but I mean all of these things compact into one. As long as your style comes through, I think it's easy to tell."
In other words, it's not so much 'what' you sing but 'how' you sing it. Just consider how Haley changed The Animals' popular folk song 'House of the Rising Sun' into something else entirely, something sultry, bluesy and jazzy at the same time through a combination of a capella solo-ing, rearrangements and altering (slowing down) the song's tempo. In her 'Austin City Limits' interview, 2011 Grammy-winner Esperanza Spalding (whose fans include Haley and Casey by the way) said every major genre of music, whether it's rock, folk, soul/R&B, jazz or country, are all "deeply stewed" in the blues tradition. All music are interconnected and interrelated, and you see elements of one genre cross over into another seamlessly. "Improvisation, communication and solo-ing" are the key elements in all music.
Featured below are two of Haley's performances that further illustrate all this. The first is her memorable 'Benny and the Jets' swan song at the end of the Top 3 results show. Improvisation and communication are in evidence there. The second is her near-a capella 'House of the Rising Sun' performance on Regis & Kelly, in which her ample solo-ing skills are on display.
Lastly, though I don't usually like to dabble in gossip, James Durbin confirmed at his wedding (congrats!) last week that Haley and seventh-place finalist Stefano Langone are going out. So I guess we guys can finally just all 'fergedabout it' and go on with our daily lives, haha. So can Casey for that matter. Stefaley fans and all teenage girls who think they make a cute couple can rejoice. Here's wishing them all the best in their courtship. No, really.
Seeya in a few when I give my impressions on Haley's new single. L8r.
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