Shana Pearson – Ignite (2023)

Shana Pearson – Ignite (2023)

This is her fourth album, following Regarde-Moi (2009), which went gold (no less!), Love Inferno (2013), and Fearless (2016).

It’s never easy to write a good, comprehensive review. Nor a list, for that matter! Especially when it comes to artists we love.

Shana is a singer, songwriter, vocal coach, and consultant.

I am a huge music lover. I love every decade since the 60s, and there are a whole host of current female singers that I particularly enjoy.

America has Bebe Rexha, Ava Max, Lizzo, Billie Eilish, and Lana Del Rey. England also has some incredible talent, such as Dua Lipa, Jess Glynne, Anne-Marie, and Clare Maguire. Going a little further north, we discover that Scotland is blessed to have Alex Hepburn.

Mabel is a little more complex: she was born in Malaga, Spain, but is a British singer-songwriter of Swedish origin. Similarly, Alice Merton was born in Frankfurt and is a German-Canadian singer-songwriter who spent her childhood in Canada and Great Britain before starting her career in Germany.

France, for its part, is lucky to have Marina Kaye, for example.

As for Switzerland, it’s not known for its artists! There’s the band Yello, which made it big in the 80s, and Stephan Eicher, who is still active and still manages to surprise us. But did everyone know Liquido, for example? Or Lovebugs? I highly doubt it! In any case, Shana deserves to be known and recognized. It’s worth noting that she sings songs like Dua Lipa’s “Hotter Than Hell,” Jess Glynne’s “No Place I’d Rather Be,” and Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather” perfectly.

On another note, I still order CDs from the Swiss website Cede.ch. There, I noticed that they have the album “Shana P – Regarde-Moi.” It’s the only item listed and it has only one review, which fortunately gave it 5 stars and said, “Best up-and-coming artist from our country. Big Up Big Up!!!!” and was written on March 2, 2010. It should be noted that the album is sold out! Its release date was December 1, 2015.

It’s quite possible that Pearson (who sings perfectly in both French and English, of course) is slightly ashamed of this album today! It must be said that she is evolving at breakneck speed and her professionalism has quadrupled since then. She was already collaborating with other artists such as Elephant Man on the song “Hot Party.”

For the record, I had met Shana on a very special occasion. A friend had told me that a rapper needed musicians to appear in the music video he was shooting at the time. The friend in question was playing the guitarist, and I was given the role of bassist. They also managed to find a drummer, a guy who played the keyboard… and the funniest part was that the saxophonist wasn’t a real saxophonist. But he was able to mime and bluff his way through it perfectly. The shoot took several hours with this team. Shana arrived after the others. Already a true professional at the time, she quickly did her part in front of the cameras and took less time than the rest of us to do so.

That said, I didn’t really have a chance to talk to her. That was in February 2010. Then time passed and I was due to give a concert with a reggae band in the town of Yverdon during the music festival. It’s always on June 21, the day after my birthday! My concert was taking place in the late afternoon… and I had heard that Shana was going to be singing a couple of streets away in the early evening. So I quickly packed up my things before going to see her…

I never had any further contact with her after that. But in 2018, my life took a turn for the worse and I started having serious problems. I was watching a lot of music videos at the time, which is how I discovered the new artists I like. But I was surprised to see three of Shana’s videos playing regularly. So I can honestly say that she is one of the artists who helped me through my most difficult times. I immediately loved her songs like Say It (feat. Ryangel), but especially her videos and hits like “Waves” and “Surrender” (still her most listened to song to date).

Thank you, Wikipedia, for the following information:

Shana Pearson, born in Geneva, is a Swiss-American singer and songwriter of pop and soul music. Her mother, née Pearson, is from Michigan in the United States, and her father is Swiss.

Some people know her as Shana P, as that was her previous stage name.

At the age of 17, she auditioned for Star Academy but was not selected. They must have thought she was so talented that she would make it anyway, one way or another, which is generally not easy to take.

She then auditioned unsuccessfully for Nouvelle Star. Which is obviously scandalous and hard to believe!

Her great-grandmother was an opera singer at the Victoria Hall in Geneva. Her mother plays the piano and her father plays the electric guitar.

In 2013, Big Ali invited her to open for Justin Bieber at the Zénith in Strasbourg on April 8, 2013. She hasn’t just opened for musicians, as she also opened once for comedian Gad Elmaleh.

In 2008, the female artist was voted “Swiss RnB Revelation of the Year.” And yet… she is still not well known enough. She travels a lot, and I hope it pays off.

As for this album, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve listened to it (in my car, in my living room, on my computer)… or how many months ago I should have written this review. I didn’t want to do it half-heartedly, because it’s precious to have artists like this in our region.

What’s more, I’m not a big fan of RnB or French songs, but with Shana, it’s no problem. But it seems to me that apart from the second song, Pour de Bon (which is a kind of reggaeton), there isn’t really any French here. In principle, I don’t really like to know which songs are hits on the albums I listen to or buy. I like to try to guess and I definitely don’t want to have any preconceptions. However, I was far from thinking that Ignite had six singles, including the title track, which is incredibly effective.

What a pleasure to know that Heroman is one of them. I admit that as a rocker, it’s the track I like the most. But I don’t think there’s a track I don’t like at all.

Shana’s accent is difficult to recognize. Sometimes I wonder if the French hasn’t rubbed off on her a little. When she sings “Steal You,” I always feel like she’s saying “I still you”… which is funny, because another song on the album is called Still!!! Anyway, it’s no big deal.

All the songs I just mentioned are the hits/top tracks on the album. And I didn’t even do it on purpose!

However, as I feel I could talk about this for hours, I’d rather gently wrap things up before I say too much. Ignite is a great success. It’s the kind of album that gets better and better as the tracks progress and the more you listen to them.

It’s a real treat for fans of pop, RnB, and open-minded listeners. Of course, if you only listen to metal, hardcore punk, alternative, industrial, indie, or opera, this won’t be your cup of tea.

There are also reggae influences and quieter moments with just vocals and piano. Pearson’s music is alternately dreamy, danceable, and full of beautiful harmonies. I was just about to say that track 6 is a one-minute interlude! In fact, I hadn’t noticed that it was called “New Beginning – Interlude.”

I can’t wait to see her in concert again or for her to continue creating.

As far as I’m concerned, Claire-Lyse Von Dach and Shana Pearson are the best Swiss singers around today, and this country should be proud to have them.