Viana Debut ‘Wine & Roses’ Hints At Future Longevity.
Viana has recently begun to create inroads in developing an impressive back catalog as a solo artist. As a result of this, the choice to break away from fronting previous bands is seen as a welcome move.
Having the awareness to identify various elements surrounding a performance as an artist is a vital attribute to have. Viana will know this more than most. An understanding of song structure and the ability to remain focused on an objective has allowed this release to shine.
” …when I look at ‘Wine & Roses’ I see this release as more than just ‘a release‘ “.
I have unconditional love for song structure and analysis. But I have an equal love for an artist who also exudes this. It can not be overstated just how important the aspect of song structure and objectives are to a release.
‘Why?’ You may ask. Well, when I look at ‘Wine & Roses‘ I see this release as more than just ‘a release‘. It is the introduction of the artist. Which in reality, it absolutely is. In retrospect, whatever came before this, matters little. All weighing from a critics perspective is now being conducted by the performance and execution of an individual’s ideas. The way in which these ideas are communicated is taken into consideration. For instance, I will aim to identify the purpose of the release and any wider perspective it tackles. Is it the introduction of a new direction for an artist? Is it political? Does it have a distinct focus? Is the beauty of it that it is just a great release? All of this is what I listen for and use to
“That approach is utterly faultless“.
‘Wine & Roses‘ does, in fact, have a clear objective in mind, at least in my opinion. I mentioned earlier that ‘the ability to remain focused on an objective has allowed this release to shine‘.
I feel that the underlying objective has been to keep listeners focused on a sensational and emotive vocal performance. ‘Wine & Roses‘ achieves this through fine crafting the vocals around a beat that is minimal in design. This is in a similar fashion to last weeks review of ‘ID3‘ and his understanding of track refinement (see here for more). It is an approach which when used like this, is utterly faultless. It allows Viana to introduce her range, projection, and tonality. Consequently, whilst displaying these three elements, it feeds into a deeper emotive performance. This gives definition to Viana as an artist. Cementing the very real possibility that this level of attention and thoughtfulness will deliver longevity.
“Like a vocal gladiator who has taken to the arena and won hearts.”
In conclusion, ‘Wine & Roses‘ is the start of a much larger journey for Viana. I feel as if this journey will craft itself with relative ease. To clarify, that is if this debut is comparative to future material.
Viana will hopefully remain focused on the very aspects that make her a great artist. Those being the powerful performances that remain emotive. All whilst combining these fundamentals with the understanding of song structure. I hold no doubts that Viana is capable of carving out space amongst the industries current crop of talent. Like a vocal gladiator who has taken to the arena and won hearts. I am sure Wine and Roses will be an ever-present factor in the emergence of Viana going forward.
Links For Food, For Thought…
If have read this article and wish to find out more about song structure, I have placed a link below. It will direct you to industry famous company Waves. Waves are industry leaders in plug-ins for production and have A LOT of experience dealing with high end producers. Similarly, if this interests you, be sure to check out Sound On Sound as one of the holy grails of music knowledge.
https://www.waves.com/six-stages-of-music-production