| “Mesmerizing and spellbinding” hails Music Connection Magazine when reviewing Adrina Thorpe’s live performance. “exquisite, soaring… Thorpe appears to be a talent on the brink of a major breakthrough…” applauds Palo Alto Daily News. Californian Singer-songwriter Adrina Thorpe’s debut album, Elusive, was a sunny collection of light toned pop songs beautifully sung by a talented performer. As the opening chords and lyrics of ‘Impossible Dream’ set the context for the songs to come, it becomes clear that her second release delves deeper beneath the surface of the psyche. ‘Flawed I am and flawed I will remain, broken since the day the package opened.’ Flawless, however, is her delicately powerful vocal. Velvet rich but capable of soaring effortlessly to stratospheric heights, it perfectly conveys the emotions with which the songs are liberally laced. Stylistically the songs are driven forward by Thorpe’s lyrical piano playing and are enhanced by a sympathetic production that never steps in the way of the music itself. Comparisons could be made to Tori Amos, Sarah McLachlan and a host of other female piano-playing singers but while there are some inevitable similarities these are merely by dint of the instrumentation employed. Thorpe, while skirting around the fringes of the accessible mainstream, remains distinct and distinctive. - Trevor Raggatt, Rock N Reel Adrina Thorpe has been writing songs as long as she can remember. Her first song, written on a rainy day when she was six years old, was about a friend of hers who moved away without saying goodbye. It brought a tear to her face as she wrote it in a driving car while the driving rain poured outside. Driving continues to be a source of inspiration for Adrina Thorpe, as does heartache, silence and solitude. Although Adrina Thorpe may be best known for her writing and vocals on the international trance hit “Who Will Find Me” (DJ Shah feat Adrina Thorpe: Armada Records, 2007) which the world’s number one DJ, Armin Van Buuren, has spun for crowds of 30,000+ and named his favorite song for the last two years, Adrina’ passion has always been for music in the contemplative alternative pop genre. Adrina Thorpe has performed hundreds of shows at venues such as The Hotel Cafe, The Shrine Auditorium, Mamapalooza, Colleges, Coffee Shops and everything in-between. Since releasing her debut album Elusive, Thorpe has gained a considerable following and earned continued success. Many tracks from Elusive were featured on TV networks CW and Lifetime, as well as in several independent films. Adrina Thorpe’s sophomore solo album, “Halflight & Shadows” journeys deeper than ever before. It is not your typical album of love songs. Below its surface, it chronicles the eternal struggle of light against the darkness, and the yearning that each of us faces everyday, the quest for a beautiful life. As the songs were collected over the course of a few years writing, a theme emerged, with concepts of light, dark, day, night, shadows, midnight, sunlight, starlight etc… weaving in and out of the lyrics. It gradually became evident that this was a thematic album, and the songs are ordered to progress from dark to light. When it came time to record Halflight & Shadows, classically-trained Thorpe enlisted the help of some of her close musician friends, including Tuscany Italy based producer Filippo Gaetani (Sting, Gil Evans, Miles Davis, My Excellence, Ken Andrews), drummer Randy Cooke (Mick Jagger, Ringo Starr, Kelly Clarkson, Five for Fighting, Chantal Kreviazuk, hilary duff, natasha beddingfield, raine maida (our lady peace), chris kirkpatrick (nsync), ashley tisdale, adam gaynor (matchbox twenty), colbie caillat, leonard cohen, adam cohen, taylor hicks, mandy moore, andrew strong (the commitments), the veronica’s, jessie mccartney…everybody else), cellist Larry Briner (Golden State Pops), cellist Dave Takahashi (Sheryl Crow, Sting, Kanye West), violinist Chris Woods (Justin Timberlake, Jessica Simpson, Faith Evans, Dr. Dre) and drummer Fernando Sanchez (Luis Fonsi, Charlotte Martin). A trans-atlantic collaboration, recorded in numerous studios in numerous cities & countries, the album’s creation was an adventure and the songs on the album also meander from dark to light, being ordered progressively with a hidden “character” who travels from the darkest brokenness to becoming transformed and swept away by beauty. The album deals with with the quintessential struggles of life in a world where there is no light without dark, no joy without pain. Songs like “Kiss the Day” and “Heal” deal with learning to appreciate what you have and focus on the lovely even in the darkest and most painful of times, whereas songs like “Domino”, “Everything Changes” and “Walk” deal with directly rejecting the lies that hold us captive, in the fight for freedom. The songs carry multiple meanings and layers, as songs about love, life, spiritual battles and a resilient choice to find beauty in the midst of a chaotic world. May these songs carry you on a journey as well. Adrina Thorpe is an unsigned artist releasing her music independently. You can show support by purchasing an album/track, leaving a tip, or sharing her music with your friends. |
| My Music Heard |