Ashley Delima – Stay in America
SPOTIFY: open.spotify.com/track/3UcrYsR9OFPvF8OnlVTPqs
New Jersey born vocal talent Ashley Delima is one of the most impressive singers, male or female, emerging in recent memory and her talents don’t stop with the musical. She shares the songwriting credits for her first single “Stay in America” with producer/songwriter Marc Swersky and successful writer Brielle Brown and proves she deserves to share the company of such luminaries thanks to the well worded lyrical content she provides. She depicts the struggle of “Dreamer” immigrants living with an uncertain future in the United States and the stakes in such a struggle with a near poetic focus complete, nonetheless, with words that serve the song without ever becoming too elaborate for their own good. The mix of entertainment and intelligence making this track sound so remarkable is doubly so when you consider Delima’s youth. She doesn’t betray a single flutter of uncertainty and packs a tremendous amount of passion and craft into each moment of the song.
“Stay in America” is a complete experience. Many songs in a pop vein feature lyrical content that’s merely a placeholder or perfunctory while all the focus is applied to the music and, particularly, the beat. There’s certainly some emphasis here on percussion and the inventive results from that is one of the strongest characteristics of the song, but it’s there to lay down the building blocks of the song rather than being the most important piece of the puzzle. There’s some equally important contributions from guitarist Vin Landolfi and his melodic six string playing runs through the arrangement like a live current of carefully controlled electricity. To top Mixer Mark Needham to the way Ashley’s vocal melody matches up with the arrangement is notable. Her vocal presence seems to snake through the song, moving up and down with the movements of the music, and it comes off like a completely live experience to the point that it might be her first overall attempt at the song.
The way she tackles the lyrics is equally inspired. If this is, indeed, her first run through, Delima makes her mark by unreeling some challenging and far from colloquial phrases with the sort of naturalness we’d expect from conversation. It lines up rather nicely with the musical backing and packs a dramatic punch that isn’t always present in modern pop music. What musicians the caliber of Landolfi, drummer Adam Jackson, percussionist Daniel Sadownick, and pianist Alan Markley bring to Ashley Delima’s music serves this young talent well and never takes short cuts. The totality of the performance and its sure handed invocation of Brazilian influences makes it one of the more impressive singles I’ve heard in recent memory. “Stay in America” is an involving musical experience that shows Marc Swersky’s unerring ear for talent has found another spectacular talent to champion. It’s honest, real, and high quality in every musical sense. Her earnestness shines through, but her passion for the song’s subject burns even brighter.
YOU TUBE: www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxvKc91RoD4
Photo credit is Jesse Lizotte
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