Washington Square, Razor & Tie’s imprint label, announces the addition of the hypnotic singer songwriter Soren Bryce. An early premiere of her bone chilling song “Chariot” can be streamed below. The song is off of her self-titled debut EP out August 28th. The song can also be purchased here on iTunes: http://geni.us/sorenbryce.
“Chariot” heaves and sighs with soulful hooks. Bryce has no shortage of emotion on the track that mixes an ethereal grace and soaring vocals that are deliciously enticing. The rousing anthems echo throughout the rest of her self-titled EP produced by David Kahne (Lana Del Rey, Ingrid Michaelson), which is set for release this August 28th.
The 18 year old native Texan, who grew up listening to her dad’s classic-rock collection, is a classically trained violinist as well as a self-taught guitar player (along with other instruments including piano, banjo and ukulele). At a young age Soren discovered what she refers to as “pissed-off folk,” such as Ani DiFranco and Ben Howard. With the encouragement of a friend who worked in a guitar shop, she started writing proper songs. “Originally, it was just a process to see if I liked it or not. And I ended up really liking it,” she says. Songwriting proved a profound release for her. “When I first started writing, I think I wrote a song a day.”
Today, Bryce estimates she has written between 100 and 150 songs, covering a range of emotions. Some, like the more rock “Stick It” are playful anthems beaming with confidence; others, such as the folkie “Newport” (written the night of her high-school prom) are quietly introspective compositions that give into insecurity. Her compositions proved so compelling that Bryce managed to raise $10,000 on the crowd-sourcing PledgeMusic to record her debut EP. Producer, David Kahne captured her fire pretty quickly, building out her piano-based tracks with guitars and programmed percussion, mindful over never upstaging her vocals. All told, they recorded her six-song EP—a delicate whirl of lilting vocals and swelling melodics—in just a few weeks. “I was used to working with people with formulas,” she says of her previous studio experiences. “Dave was very organic. We recorded the basic song, and then we started messing around with all these other sounds. He’d come up with a part in a minute! It’s pretty awesome.”