Richard NG's Music Review Blog: A Fan of Hayley Westenra or Andrea Ross ? Meet Kelly Sweet.

Where Do I Start ? Here's somethng relatively new for the fans of the Cross-Over music genre. If you already have this album in your collection, then for you I guess she needs no introduction. You will have already experienced for yourself first hand what she's like, and will have already formulated your own impressions of her as an artist, before I've even begun here. If you're already a fan of Hayley Westenra or Andrea Ross, then you're in for a great treat.
She's one of the latest new music artists to join the Cross-Over music genre. She's only 18 years old, and she's from Montclair, New Jersey, USA. Her debut album is called " We Are One " ( pictured above Left ), loosely described as semi-Pop and semi-Cross-Over, influenced by the styles of Jazz, Classical, and Cross-over. Her name, is " Kelly Sweet ". Her music is so much more than can be described in words.

My pathway to initially discovering Kelly Sweet was primarily through participating in forum disccussions on Andrea Ross's Official Forum, where one of the forum participants mentioned having CD titles from Hayley Westenra, Andrea Ross, and Kelly Sweet in his/her favourite CD collection. Of the three, Kelly Sweet was the only artist un-familiar to me at the time.; I've already been a big fan of Hayley Westenra for some time now, and I discovered Andrea Ross sometime earlier in the year, and have a been a fan of ever since. That leaves Kelly Sweet, who at the time, I had never heard of, until I saw her name mentioned on a discussion thread on Andrea Ross's Official Forum. At the time, I was thinking if this person also liked Hayley Westenra and Andrea Ross like I do ( and he/she did convey in communication to the effect that Kelly Sweet is somewhat similar to the other two... ), I thought it would be worthwhile and maybe even interesting, to follow it up and check out who Kelly Sweet is and what she's like. If he/she likes Hayley Westenra and Andrea Ross, and would put Kelly Sweet in the same boat, then I gather Kelly must bear some merit. And this is what initially convinced me to investigate the subject further. First instincts are of course to find out whether she ( Kelly ) has an official web site where I could find out who she is, what she's like, and whether there are sample music audio clips to listen to.; Yeah, I checked out Kelly Sweet's official web site, and her MySpace music page. I also scoured a number of music web sites on the internet looking for Kelly Sweet sample music audio clips to listen to, and after some familiarising myself on Kelly Sweet, I eventually made the decision to purchase her debut album " We Are One " online via Amazon UK. I've had the album in my possession now for a not-so-long period of time that can only be counted in weeks, a small number that you can count on the fingers of only one hand !; Already in this short time, I will tell you with confidence, that Kelly is good ( really good ) ( and she really can sing ) ! and I too would definitely rank her along side the likes of Hayley Westenra and Andrea Ross, who of late, has made this Cross-Over journey somewhat of a unique collaborative adventure.

Kelly Sweet ( in the same-ness of both Hayley and Andrea ), is as Genuine an artist as it gets. As Kelly's official web site quotes, that Kelly is " No pre-fab pop confection or eager-to-please talent-show contest winner ". The team at Yahoo-Music says that " Not every young singer is following a By-the-Numbers career path, when it comes to making new music... ". At an interview with the people at Yahoo-Music, Kelly says that she has been approached by people who wanted her to do either straight Pop or straight Jazz, but Kelly in her honest heart didn't want to do either ! She wanted to sing ( in her words ) ' the music that she heard '. Kelly also said that people close to her advised her to do what she wanted to do, and not what other producers expected her to do. So, she waited until she could find the right producer and the right people to work with, who would produce her unique sound. On her debut album " We Are One ", Kelly sings in four different languages, including English, Italian, French, and Sanskrit.;

Here is the track-listing for Kelly Sweet's debut album " We Are One " :

.1. We Are One
.2. Raincoat
.3. Dream On
.4. Caresse Sur l'Ocean
.5. Crush
.6. Ready for Love
.7. Giorno Dopo Giorno
.8. I Will Be Waiting
.9. Now We Are Free
10. How 'Bout You
11. Love Song
12. Je T'Aime

On Kelly's MySpace Music Page, you will find the bonus MP3 Christmas track " White Christmas ". Two other MP3 Christmas tracks " Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas " and " Silent Night " ( performed by Kelly ) are also available on various other music web sites that feature music by Kelly Sweet.

She's not Hayley ! She's not Andrea ! But her debut album " We Are One " certainly exhibits the sounds and essence that puts her in the one-in-the-same 'spirit' of the genre of which both Hayley and Andrea are now big contenders !

I believe that if you like Hayley Westenra and/or Andrea Ross, you will like Kelly Sweet ( I do already..., and I like all three ! ). Kelly's music is comfortable, and relatively soft - you don't need to have the volume up high to appreciate it.

She's Fresh, She's New, She's Talented, and she's Unique ! She's .... Kelly Sweet....
And her new debut album is " We Are One ", the new sound of Cross-Over.

Video Clip : Introducing Kelly Sweet : Watch a video clip of the Yahoo-Music exclusive Interview with Kelly Sweet.

Audio : The Kelly Sweet ' We Are One ' Music Sampler : Listen to Sample Audio clips from Kelly Sweet's debut album ' We Are One ' on the Amazon.com Music Sampler. Click the Link Below.

If you're a fan of the Cross-Over/Classical Cross-Over genre, and you already have a decent collection of Hayley Westenra CDs, and maybe even the " Moon River " CD by recent new-comer Andrea Ross, then Kelly Sweet's " We Are One " CD is a Must-Have addition to any great Cross-Over/Classical Cross-Over collection.

Here is a montage image of the three Cross-Over artists mentioned on this article - Hayley Westenra, Andrea Ross, and Kelly Sweet :