Napoli, July, 2010 – Eighteen months in the making, some of the most beautiful voices in the scene, a massive production, one hell of an album, two videoclips and one documentary… The Kiske-Somerville collaboration album has all the trademarks of a real event for the Rock fans in 2010, and the release on September 24th in Europe and October 12th in the USA mark some dates that should be noted in every fan agendas.
The collaboration between vocalist Michael Kiske (Helloween, Place Vendome) and American singer Amanda Somerville was born as a concept put together thanks to the input of Frontiers Records President Serafino Perugino. “I did a duet with a female singer on 'Breathing Water' by Indigo Dying”, explains Michael Kiske. “It was so nice that he offered me a chance to make an album of all duet songs with a famous female singer."
This exciting album sees Mat Sinner (Primal Fear, Sinner) and Magnus Karlsson (Starbreaker, Primal Fear) handling most of the songwriting (with more contributions from Sander Gommans formerly of After Forever and Amanda Sormeville herself), with Sinner overseeing the production & mix at various recording studios in Europe.
Amanda Somerville is the American singer-songwriter and vocal coach who was tapped to replace Epica vocalist Simone Simons on the band's North American tour with Symphony X due to Simons' health issues. Amanda was also featured on Kamelot's latest release, "Ghost Opera", the Rock Opera “Aina” and recently toured with Avantasia. “When Mat Sinner asked me if I wanted to be the "other half" of the face of the album, I was very honored and quite looking forward to working more closely with Michael Kiske” tells Amanda. “We'd both been involved in various projects over the years together, such as Aina and Avantasia, but it was always through third parties and we didn't sing together like we do here. It's not for nothing that Michael's a legend in the scene. He's got a very unique voice, a special delivery of his performance and is a wonderful person on top of it all. This has been a great experience all across the board!”. Kiske adds “To sing together with the gifted and beautiful Amanda was another genius idea of Serafino! And it was a most pleasant experience to meet her. Amanda has by far the best female voice I have heard for ages. And the album is a killer.”
Two videoclips were filmed for the songs "Silence" and "If I Had A Wish" in Nurnberg, Germany. Joining Kiske and Somerville for the shoot were bassist and main composer Mat Sinner, guitarist Sander Gommans (After Forever), drummer Rami Ali and keyboardist Jimmy Kresic (Voodoo Circle). The clips were directed by Martin Mueller of RCN TV, who previously helmed the videoclip production for Unheilig, Subway To Sally, Helloween, U.D.O. and Gotthard. The digital only release of the single, "Silence" on August 20th, will precede the release of the full-length CD.
The “Kiske-Somerville” album final tracklisting includes:
Nothing Left To Say; Silence; If I Had A Wish; One Night Burning; Arise; End Of The Road; Don't Walk Away; A Thousand Suns; Rain; Devil In Her Heart; Second Chance; Set A Fire (bonus track).
The Bonus DVD will include videoclips of “Silence” and “If I Had A Wish” plus a “Making of” documentary.
The songs “Silence” and “If I Had A Wish” can exclusively be listened to in full by streaming on the Frontiers Web Radio from July 20th. Tune in at: www.frontiers.it/webradio
Enjoy the YouTube trailer presentation:
Musicians:
Michael Kiske - Vocals
Amanda Somerville - Vocals
Mat Sinner - Bass & Backing Vocals
Magnus Karlsson - Lead Guitar, Guitar, Keyboards
Sander Gommans - Additional Lead Guitar
Martin Schmidt / Ramy Ali - Drums
Jimmy Kresic - Keyboards.
Weblinks: www.michaelkiske.net / www.amandasomerville.com / www.frontiers.it / www.myspace.com/frontiersrecords