Darci Monet’s New CD ‘Fusion’ Seamlessly Blends Soulful Pop/Rock
with Heart-felt Acoustic Balladry.
Like a Kelly Clarkson-Eva Cassidy-Ann Wilson sandwich with a side of Aretha.
Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA (1888PressRelease) May 12, 2009 - Darci Monet’s resume reads like a Who’s Who of professional musicians. Credits include principle vocal performances in record-smashing independent films (Napoleon Dynamite), hit television shows (How I Met Your Mother) and backup vocals for legendary recording artists (Steve Winwood, Dolly Parton, The Judds, Amy Grant). Also listed are various honors from prestigious songwriting contests (Unisong, Billboard) and songs she has written with writing partner/recording artist Levi Kreis at the helm have enjoyed placements on long-running shows like Days of Our Lives, The Young and the Restless and The Apprentice. As a vocal coach, Monet’s students have appeared everywhere from Broadway (Rent), national commercials (Choice Hotels), episodic television (24, American Idol) and in L.A.’s hottest clubs (World Famous Roxy, Viper Room). In a career that spans twenty years, Darci Monet has been in the background for its majority.
However, come her next birthday on May 12th, Monet will finally step into the limelight with the release of her highly-anticipated new studio album, Fusion. The project, a “Kelly Clarkson-Eva Cassidy-Ann Wilson sandwich with a side of Aretha,” will be available for purchase both physically and digitally from DarciMonet.com, CDBaby.com and iTunes. Amazon.com, Rhapsody and various other digital music sites are to follow.
With Fusion, Monet has united her two strongest sides as a musician and writer, with a shout-out to the days before information technology took over the music industry. “This project is half ‘rock chick Darci’ and half ‘coffeehouse Darci’,” she explains. “I wanted it to feel like it did when I was a kid and you had to turn the tape over in the middle of the album. So ‘Side A’ is the full band, full production ‘pop/rock-with-a-splash-of-soul’ that people have come to expect from me. ‘Side B’ is my stripped down, acoustic side that, until now, has mostly revealed itself in collaborations I’ve done with other artists.”
Highlights on Fusion feature Monet’s signature gut-busting vocals and several songs co-written with Kreis, including the hook-laden but edgy first single, “Jezebel,” the blues-and-pheromone-drenched “Smoke and Leather” and Monet’s own rendition of their wistful hit ballad, “I Should Go” (which first appeared on Kreis’ critically acclaimed CD One of the Ones). Billboard chart-topping dance/rock artist Debby Holiday lends her writing skills to “Paper Doll” and both Holiday and Kreis contribute gospel-rich choir vocals on the inspirational “Go On,” written by Monet after a visit to Ground Zero in 2006. Fusion was produced in Los Angeles by Steve Gryphon (Avril Lavigne, Gavin DeGraw) and Monet with pre-production in Nashville by Ron Jagger (dc Talk, Michael W. Smith).