Alice Smith (born 1978) is an New York City-based singer, her style anchored in rock, R&B, blues, jazz and soul. Raised between Washington, D.C. and a farm in Georgia, she sang in Moomtez and Black Rock Coalition while studying History at Fordham University.
Releasing her first LP in 2006, Smith has a powerful voice, and Rolling Stone said of her, "Smith could easily be lumped in with expressive chanteuses like Norah Jones and Alicia Keys, but she has a broader palette than either." The magazine listed her as one of the 10 Artists to Watch in 2006.
Her debut album, For Lovers, Dreamers & Me, is a collection of songs spanning genres from country to rock to funk and almost everything in between but rap.
The title is also eclectic, having been borrowed from an unexpected source—the Muppets.
"We were just trying to think of a title because I haven’t thought of a name after it was all done," she said in an interview with Hiphoprnbsoul.com.
"We were thinking about the music and we were throwing ideas around.
We were thinking about The Beatles and The Wizard of Oz and whatever else made us think of. Then something made me think of The Muppets.
I don’t even know. It wasn’t something in the forefront of my mind.
I just thought of it and it came to me like that."
The song Dream was featured on an episode of Entourage (season four) during the closing credits. Dream was also featured in the final act of episode four, season five, of the Showtime series The L Word ("Let's Get This Party Started"). In 2007, she was nominated for a Grammy Award under the Best Urban/Alternative category.In 2011, she collaborated with Aloe Blacc to contribute the track "Baby" to the Red Hot Organization's most recent charitable album "Red Hot+Rio 2."
The album is a follow-up to the 1996 "Red Hot + Rio." Proceeds from the sales will be donated to raise awareness and money to fight AIDS/HIV and related health and social issues.
Don't let her pedestrian name fool you: Alice Smith is a unique artist with a vision that's anything but commonplace. Smith effortlessly mixes rock, jazz, blues, soul, funk, and pop--and not just from song to song, but within each song, defying categories as gracefully as she performs vocal gymnastics with her stunning voice.
Smith pulls influences from the Beatles, neo-R&B singers, Billie Holiday, Queen, and countless other points in musical history, but FOR LOVERS, DREAMERS & ME never feels willfully eclectic or scattered.
In fact, it's remarkably unified; an achievement due as much to the excellent songs, arrangements, and production as to Smith's performances.
Without a weak moment, this debut has all the makings of a modern-day classic.
Entertainment Weekly (p.64) - "[She] deals in the sort of timeless neo-soul that recalls multiple throaty chanteuses of yore....Her instrument -- a four-octave voice -- is a knockout."
-- Grade: B
Vibe (p.159) - "Psychedelic soul is R&B's future, Alice Smith's brilliant, brainy, and refreshing debut reveals."
No Depression (p.102) - "[O]ne of the best soul albums in recent memory....[With] smart and slinky tracks such as 'Dreams' and the preposterously catchy 'Fake Is The New Real'."
Enjoy!!!!!!
