Princess goes original

MANILA, Philippines - With revivals arguably still dominating the airwaves, one female acoustic act known for her renditions of current hits detours herself from the predictable route and recorded a new song as lead single.

Princess, a member of ASAP Sessionistas, is promoting her latest track released into airwaves titled Lonely Night. The piece, though sounding like an old hit with its radio-friendly pop-R&B flavor, is genuinely original, written by Diane Dayao and published by Viva Music.

The closing song of her 14-track third album Acoustic Princess, the said cut sends a strong signal that she is on the verge of even widening her horizon as musician. That she even has a composition of her own adds emphasis to her growth as a mainstream artist. Her self-penned song Don’t Go is placed as a “lucky 13th” track. Isn’t that ever since George Martin unheraldedly put Paul McCartney’s gem Yesterday as the 13th song in the Beatles’ album Help, this position has always been considered a dark horse?

“The latest album of Princess features a couple of original songs that can fair well with the covers still filling up her track list. We acknowledged her evolution as musician and this is strikingly reflected in her new set of recordings, “ implied Punch Liwanag of Vicor Music, the lady singer’s home label.

With Princess dressed up on the album package a la Katy Perry on a tamer note, the CD boasts of feel-good takes of freshly familiar tunes from today’s top foreign pop and R&B artists. Some instantly interesting versions she did are that of Usher’s DJ Got Us Falling In Love Again; Bruno Mars’ Just The Way You Are; Taylor Swift’s Mine; and the opener Firework, one of two popular Katy cuts she interpreted. The other being Teenage Dream.

The first two albums of Princess, Addicted To Acoustic 1 and 2, were platinum and gold certified albums. With her style still popular among audiences embracing hit songs in various forms, music insiders see a continuation of such success with Acoustic Princess. Other songs on the album are U Smile, (Justin Bieber); Beautiful Monster (Ne-Yo); Please Don’t Go (Mike Posner); Something ‘Bout Love (David Archuleta); Dynamite (Taio Cruz); Perfectly Lonely (John Mayer); and Love The Way You Lie (Part II) (Eminem and Rihanna).               

With her regular exposure on ASAP, Princess has so much to thank about the ABS-CBN show that provides her a venue to showcase her skill, not to mention her stunning physical glow that originates from her tantalizing eyes. In her own words, she hails ASAP “for helping musicians like me to share their talents to Pinoys around the world.”

Her message to the other Sessionistas (Aiza Seguerra, Juris Fernandez, Sitti,Nina, Richard Poon, and Duncan Ramos): “It’s always a pleasure making music with you.”

Well, reading between the lines, there must be an additional message: Let’s go original.

(Princess will visit SM Malls today at SM Masinag and on May 29, SM Southmall).