Review By Daniel Deprè & Staff
“Chapter 2” is a bright light of hope and is exactly the kind of song we all need right now. This is a song that is overflowing with emotion and it’s an easily relatable song. Thriving in its rock piano ballad vibe, it simultaneously is gentle and fierce. The piano is the heart of this arrangement while colorful and flickering synths ornament the song. The drums bring intensity and emotional punch as they are heavy and thick. You’ll be singing at the top of your lungs with this song in no time.
The lyrics are simple enough for anyone to relate to but still very poetic and truly expressive. Her lyrics reflect a difficult time in her life, yet they also provide an inspiring sense of hope. “This time I won’t be shaken, and this time I won’t be moved, cause I know that I am stepping into, chapter 2”. Such a beautiful sentiment that she is singing about and it’s a wonderful reminder for anyone going through a tough time. “No life’s gonna hold me hostage, no fear’s gonna tear me down, I’ve been there too many times”. This is an inspiring call to arms to reclaim one’s life.
The arrangement and production really help this song soar as everything is perfectly balanced. With piano being the driving force for the song, drums are perfectly contrasting and add to the song's dual sense of emotion and heavy rock vibes. Ida Maree sings with such passion that you get the feeling she is singing from her heart. She sends her voice way up into the heavens many times and you can feel that impact in your soul. The guitars maintain a humble presence throughout the song, but their contribution is more than apt. They fill out the chorus’ with soft distortion and add some subtle embellishment to the verses.
“Chapter 2” is ultimately epic and will appeal to the part of you that wants to claim this life as truly your own. An ending is also just another beginning, own it.
Stream on Spotify
Australian artist Ida Maree has had quite a musical journey. From the clubs of the Gold Coast to the theatres of Sydney, and into Black Gospel Churches of Melbourne, Houston, DC, Birmingham, LA, her travels and singing have encompassed the true path of a musician searching for truth in her life.
Her debut album Saving Grace was acclaimed as The Album of the Year by Australia’s leading Christian Radio Charts, best known for the success of her songs Saving Grace and Butterfly. But while in Nashville in 2014, Ida came into contact with Grammy-nominated producer Billy Smiley (White Heart, Johnny Cash, Clay Aikens, Steven Curtis Chapman, Sandy Patty), and they formed a partnership, which didn't come around to making the music until all the pieces seemed to fit together in 2018.
Bringing her new album Chapter 2 to the forefront of music in 2020 will be the culminating effort of these 2 kindred souls. Smiley said, “Working with Ida has been a complete joy and effortless endeavor to create the music we both love and envisioned for this project.”
With him coming from Detroit carrying the sounds of Motown and Stevie Wonder in his soul, and the lyrical depth of Bob Seger, he brought in a great cast of young musicians and engineers who are shaping the Nashville landscape; like Australian Jared Kneale on drums (Kacey Musgraves, Ben Rector, Hunter Hayes), Brennan Smiley of the rock group “The Technicolors” on electric guitars, Akil Thompson on bass (Little Big Town), Blair Masters on Keys (Garth Brooks, Peter Frampton), and musician/engineer Jonathan Crone.
Mixed by Billy Whittington (Amy Grant, Be Be and Ce Ce Winans, and Michael W Smith) and Jonathan Crone, the project has come full circle to a national release of incredible and soaring vocals and passion from Maree in Chapter 2. Along with BGV gospel singers Larysa Jackson, Dwanna Hughes, and Martrell Harris, they have come up with an incredible soulful body of work not often heard in the marketplace; one that is both fresh, musically compelling, and yet with a special sense of power and vulnerability all rolled into this slim and quiet young artist named Ida Maree.