November 11, 2007

{     Dri - Smoke Rings     }    

"Smoke Rings" will soon find it's way into your heart, mind, MP3 player, boombox, car stereo, dancefloor and/or transistor radio. The debut album from Adrianne Verhoeven (AKA "Dri") is just that wonderfully listenable. It's rare to find something this refreshing and unique that still maintains some level of universal appeal but "Smoke Rings" is just that kind of gem; words like "crossover" don't even apply, because it's not really crossing over from anywhere to anywhere, it just IS. And it's gonna be huge.

This is due entirely to the profound skill and charm of Ms. Verhoeven, whose vocals range from sensual slow-burn crooners to upbeat and silky-smooth rhymeflows. And it's all delivered with such humble confidence, like "I'm just going to put this out there, I know it's not much like what everybody else is doing, but it's what I'm about and I hope you dig it..." That unassuming attitude allows Dri to have some fun with this piece, it gives her the freedom to genre-hop and experiment, ultimately crafting something that distinguishes her from her peers while simultaneously raising the bar amongst the unconventional/indie songstress crowd.

     » Dri "Meet Me Out" (MP3)
     » Dri "What's Real" (MP3)
     » Dri's MySpace
     » Range Life Records
     » Video for "You Know I Tried"

Editor's Addition: As a testament to how much I'm also in love with Dri's songs, allow me to tell you a short story. I download a lot of music from new artists all week long, MP3s from blogs, emails, friends, et cetera, and then when I get a chance I load it all up into iTunes at once and trim the wheat from the chaff. A lot of times I load the tracks up and the artist name and song titles are disappointingly absent, so I usually just ditch the track right off the bat. That said, last week I load up a bunch of songs to find two simply as "Track 7" and "Track 9", but I decided to listen to them anyway...

Aaaaand I was hooked. Addicted, I listened to them over and over, and immediately began my search to find out who she was. I paged thru my browsing history, dug thru past emails, even going so far as to post the tracks on a few message boards before finally finding her label's site on a lark by searching for a couple lyric snippets. I was obsessed, and after finding Dri's name I was able to find the email I had received days earlier regarding her soon-to-be-released album. After a couple replies I was able to score an advance listen to the entire beautiful, hooky, wonderful album - an album which I now highly recommend you get your hands on. Check out the tracks linked above to see what I mean...