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Album Review: Danielle Hernandez
Bringing in the Sun covers plenty of music ground for pop lovers
Joe Anello
With all of the “attractive guy with guitar” acts I’ve covered during my brief tenure as an Ear Candy writer for College News, I figured I’d flip the gender switch this week. For your listening pleasure, I present Danielle Hernandez, a singer/songwriter from the land of Jersey.
On her debut album, Bringing in the Sun, Danielle provides all the vocals as well as the keyboard and piano components. Joined in by co-writer Jason DeGeorge on acoustic and electric guitars, she puts forward ten quality tracks that manage to stand out amidst the offerings from other female songstresses of the day. Her vocals alone warrant a hear-through.
Danielle’s “Ain’t for Free” hints of Sara Bareilles, with its poppy piano backing, but she manages to differentiate herself with a sassier delivery of her man-kicking words. With hooks around every corner, the track will undoubtedly get your head bobbing.
“I Can’t Breathe” starts out softly with Danielle’s voice set against an acoustic. For the refrain, the track finds its edgier side, coinciding with its chain-breaking lyrics. Skilled percussion and a sturdy electric line supply plenty of support to one of my favorite songs on the album.
“Stay” puts Danielle’s pop traits on display, harkening back to the genre’s 90’s acoustic-laden hits (in a good way, I promise). Her front and background vocals merge faultlessly with the bass and guitar lines, resulting in a superb single-ready song.
Straying away from the lighter acoustic sound, “Down To Me” and “Between Dreams” feature heavier electric riffs that place them closer to the rock genre. It’s this effort to stretch her limits that merits Danielle’s album a listen. Other artists get too comfortable in one skin and fail to explore their musical options.
While many will say Danielle isn’t breaking any new particular ground on this album, I would argue: who really is these days? In my humble opinion, she certainly has the talent to find a place among the genre’s accepted female occupants. Bringing in the Sun covers enough musical distance to entertain a multitude of listeners which will hopefully mean a sophomore effort down the road.
Danielle will be appearing at the world-famous Radio City Music Hall on November 13th at 8:00pm, where she will be kicking off their Christmas Spectacular! Stay tuned to her MySpace page for all of Danielle’s upcoming shows.
For lively and fresh pop music, pick up Danielle Hernandez’s debut album, Bringing in the Sun, available now on iTunes, Amazon or CDbaby.
10/21/09 - Joe Anello of College News
Discography
LP- "Bringing in the Sun" was written by Danielle Hernandez and co-writer Jason DeGeorge. It was produced, mixed, engineered and mastered by Chris Bandami, executive producer at Portrait Recording Studios in Lincoln Park, N.J.
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Bio
Jersey born Singer/song-writer Danielle Hernandez brings a new sound to pop- rock in her debut independently released album “Bringing in the Sun”. Her lyrics are sincere, honest, heartfelt and real, giving her the perfect combination of strength and sensitivity. Her sound has been compared to everything from Michelle Branch, Norah Jones, Sheryl Crow, Anna Nalick and Sarah Maclachlan. In those comparisons however she manages to hold her own unique sound and quality. Her voice is powerful, sultry dynamic, and she has demonstrated her ability to hold her own. Singing at the tender age of 5, Danielle's influences range from Elton John and Led Zepplin, to Sarah McLahclan and Tori Amos. This self taught musician started as a poet which led to her love for song writing. Songs like "Down to me (up to you) and "I Can' t Breathe" have addictive qualities that stay with the listener's mind.
For info. go to www.myspace.com/daniellethernandez
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