COLLABORATION: Alecia Moore and Dallas Green got together for a week to record their charting album Rose Ave.
By Geoffrey Rowlands
The names Alecia Moore and Dallas Green may not be familiar to many music fans. But it would be a different story if their music as You+Me was promoted under their stage names of Pink and City and Colour.
“I still don’t think I’d be known by too many people,” smiled 34-year-old Dallas. “I don’t have the same kind of chart success that Alecia has as Pink.”
While his words are certainly true, Dallas is being modest in suggesting he is barely known. Leaving aside his earlier work in the bands Helicon Blue and Alexisonfire, all four City and Colour studio albums have earned Platinum Discs in his native Canada. The last two, Little Hell and The Hurry and The Harm, topped the Canadian chart. His music is particularly popular in Australia and has also sold well in Britain and America.
Pink, of course, is an international phenomenon with a host of smash hit singles and albums. Her tours gross millions and she regularly appears among the list of highest earning women in music.
But Pink’s music is rather different from the alternative folk songs she performs with Dallas. What made them decide to join forces as You+Me?
“We were introduced some years ago by a mutual friend,” Alecia explained. “I loved his music. I thought he had the most angelic voice I’d ever heard. We developed an instant friendship, went on tour together and I really wanted to create songs with him.”
“The problem was finding time to get in the studio together,” Dallas stated. “You have these schedules which other people set up and we never seemed to have any breaks which coincided. But we finally found a mutually free week last March and I went to Alecia’s house just thinking we might work on some song ideas which could be developed in the future.”
“I had a different concept,” laughed Alecia, 35. “I’d hired a studio for us to work in so that we had all the necessary facilities if ideas actually became proper songs. As things turned out, that’s exactly what happened.”
“The first night, we just intended to drop off my guitar at the studio,” Dallas remarked. “We ended up writing and recording one song, then wrote and partially recorded another.”
“That’s how things went throughout the week,” Alecia explained. “The songs just flowed out of us. It wasn’t just the writing though, it was the sound of our voices harmonising. People sometimes work all their lives to achieve true vocal harmony with another person but it just happened automatically for us.”
“I think this is the great thing about our music,” Dallas added. “It doesn’t sound like Alecia or myself featuring the other person, it simply sounds like us.”
Having created their entire album in just six days, Dallas and Alecia presented it to astonished bosses at RCA Records.
“They had no idea what we were doing,” laughed Alecia. “But neither did we. Our plan was to get together and see what happened. We didn’t expect to make an album in a week. The record company knowing nothing about it made everything that much more enjoyable. There was no pressure on us.”
The resulting album has proved enormously successful. Entitled Rose Ave., from the address of the studio in which it was recorded, the album currently holds top ten chart spots throughout the world.
“It’s lovely to have so many people enjoying our songs,” Alecia remarked. “City and Colour fans haven’t been put off by my involvement and my fans have realised there is much more to me than just making pop songs.
“I never get asked to sing at barbecues because everyone thinks I need the big production on my songs. Maybe that will change now they’ve heard the songs on Rose Ave.”
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Mary Lambert
Mary Lambert made her name as the featured vocalist on Same Love, the 2012 world-wide hit single by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.
Since then, the 25-year-old Seattle-based singer, songwriter and spoken word artist has issued two well received EPs and a handful of singles. She is back now with her debut album, Heart on My Sleeve.
“The songs have a different vibe to those on my EPs,” Mary stated. “I wrote the EPs when I was really sad but I’ve experienced immense joy this year and my emotional positivity is reflected on the album.”
An audio posting of her complete album can be found at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uu-0CETIyLs
The video for lead single, Secrets, is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqqqV50zaAc
Numerous remixes of Secrets are among the postings at www.youtube.com/user/MaryLambertVEVO/videos
Brielle
Brielle has just released Avalanche as her official debut single.
The 19-year-old singer/songwriter had previously issued Catch A Star For You as a promotional single. The video for this is posted at www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6jWFw7u7pI
Avalanche is another pop dance track but with a slower tempo and deeper lyrics.
“The song is about a crumbling relationship which has become a one-sided effort,” Brielle explained. “I’ve learned from personal experience that any worthwhile relationship is a two-way street and cannot exist with only one person trying to hold it together.”
The Avalanche video will not be online until November 1. But the song is available to hear and purchase at (no www.) brielle1.bandcamp.com/
Elle King
Elle King is another American female artist with a new single to promote.
The 25-year-old Los Angeles-born but New York-based singer/songwriter debuted with The Elle King EP in June, 2012. An album was originally expected in 2013 but it will be early next year before this finally materialises.
Available now though is lead single, Ex’s & Oh’s. This is the latest posting at (no www.) soundcloud.com/ellekingmusic. Also here is Elle’s EP and a myriad of other songs dating back to 2011.
The video for Ex’s & Oh’s can be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=kv1gBViFIX4. Audio postings and live performances are also available on YouTube but her only other official song video is for Good To Be A Man, a track from The Elle King EP. This is posted at www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF2C6KuN328
Kevin Ross
Kevin Ross has been heralded as the next big thing on America’s R&B scene. The 25-year-old was named “Best New R&B Artist” by AOL Music and attracted the kind of acclaim that has seen him compared to the legendary Stevie Wonder.
After graduating from Boston’s prestigious Berklee College of Music with a degree in songwriting, Kevin has written for stars such as Usher, Akon and Trey Songz. His own debut album is set for release next year but Kevin’s four-song EP, Dialogue in the Grey, is available now. It can be heard in full at (no www.) soundcloud.com/kevinrossmusic
Raphael Ravenscroft
Everyone who has heard Gerry Rafferty’s classic 1978 single, Baker Street, will be familiar with the work of Raphael Ravenscroft. It was he who performed what has become one of the most famous saxophone solos in pop music history.
Sadly, Raphael died recently but he will live on through his session musician work for artists such as Pink Floyd, Abba, Marvin Gaye, Daft Punk and many more.
If anyone is unfamiliar with Baker Street, give yourself a treat by viewing the video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSIw09oqsYo
Raphael received just 27 British Pounds for his performance. The cheque bounced!
