We enter Simonne Draper’s artistic universe with a keen sense of wonder, a luscious and respectful sentiment aided by her multi-talented persona and deeply knowledgeable musical character. A composer and a classical guitarist, Draper is also part of the Czech Composers Society, and she’s a voting member of The Recording Academy for the Grammy Awards. Quite the curriculum. It turns out, she’s also an excellent singer, information that we were able to extract from Draper’s latest effort, ‘Finesca II’, a collaboration with fellow composer and producer Jon Kennedy.
Drawing from Simonne’s original composition ‘Finesca’, ‘Finesca II’ sees Draper emboldened by a more contemporary outlook. Effectively plunging into eclectic waters, the England-based creative expands her sonic horizon with a good amount of liquid, gentle electronica, the perfect companion to Draper’s hypnotic classical guitar. Kennedy does a good job on the production, delivering an easy-listening beat that enhances Simonne’s dreamy backing vocals and her plucking expertise. Furthermore, ‘Finesca II’ enjoys mastering by multi-platinum engineer Alex Psaroudakis.
There’s a certain dualism in the record, too. If the listener is aware of its context, it’s easy to appreciate Simonne Draper’s tender compositional nuance and the functional simplicity behind it. Yet, if one were to just come across the piece without any background information, the listening experience would still be very rewarding, perhaps more targeted towards escapism and soundtrack territories.
Recommended! Discover ‘Finesca II’ now: