I Can Only Be Me

Product Information

Tall Trees in Georgia" is one of Eva's most haunting performances,” explains arranger Christopher Willis. Songbird' is the centrepiece of the project, which made use of new breakthroughs in AI technology to add new dimensions to Cassidy's performance in line with Willis and Ross' new compositions.

For an artist like Cassidy, who was well known for being introverted and quiet, the collaboration with one of the world’s leading orchestras seems almost antithetical to what she stood for as an artist. Lukes, the 18th century former Anglican London church that currently serves as the London Symphony Orchestra's home, conducted by Chris Egan. For the orchestral version, strings replace the guitar, and the overlapping sustains and tremolos become a texture of forest murmurs. In an interview with The Independent, Cassidy's former bandmate and arranger Chris Biondo shared, "Eva had a fantasy of one day having a full orchestra back her up . Of the “Songbird” track, Christopher Willis commented: “The wonderful, resonant truth about this song is that Eva is the Songbird, singing naturally from the heart.You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. The goal with the orchestral version was to complement her pure vocal essence with a simple, yet broader instrumental arrangement – a lush musical landscape with Eva’s voice at the centre. I Can Only Be Me features redefining orchestral versions of classic repertoire including ‘Songbird’, ‘Time After Time’, ‘Autumn Leaves’ and ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’. The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. In the original live recording, the only accompaniment is Eva herself playing the guitar, lightly brushing the strings in a continuous tremolo.

To celebrate what would have been her 60th birthday (on February 2), Blix Street Records will release a landmark new album, which pairs Cassidy’s impeccable voice with the backing of the legendary London Symphony Orchestra. To complete this picture, in between Eva's verses, I imagined two birds, represented by two high penny whistles up above the strings. The album’s title track is a radical reworking of a little-known Stevie Wonder penned song, Eva Cassidy’s musical idol.

The album features redefining new versions of classic repertoire including Songbird, Time After Time, Autumn Leaves and Ain’t No Sunshine. Songbird," the first track on the new album, has been released by Blix Street Records as a digital single and is available from iTunes, Spotify and other digital outlets.

William Ross, who created the album's “Autumn Leaves” track, said: "I can't possibly find the words to adequately express my thoughts and feelings about Eva, one of the most unique, hypnotic, and powerful singers of all time. The London Symphony Orchestra’s stately, immersive accompaniment elevates a song that became an instant Christmas staple when it appeared in the Richard Curtis blockbuster Love Actually in 2003 to spectacular new heights.When she passed away in 1996 from melanoma at the age of 33, she left behind a small catalogue of recorded material that has been painstakingly curated into more than a dozen individual collections that showcase her extraordinarily versatile voice and her wide-ranging, but unerringly tasteful, sense of material. The album’s title track is a radical reworking of a Stevie Wonder penned song, Eva Cassidy’s musical idol. The goal with the orchestral version was to complement her pure vocal essence with a simple, yet broader instrumental arrangement – a lush musical landscape with Eva's voice at the center.

That album would spawn her now iconic version of “Over the Rainbow,” which has been compared to Judy Garland’s as a definitive performance of that treasured American classic. When singer Eva Cassidy wandered into producer Chris Biondo's studio in Glenn Dale, Maryland to make extra money by singing on a band's demo, she began an unprecedented journey that would lead to more than 12 million albums sold worldwide, largely posthumously. Back in 2001, it was the BBC playing Cassidy’s version of “Over the Rainbow” that introduced her to British audiences and ignited a media storm on both sides of the Atlantic. The goal with the orchestral version was to complement her pure vocal essence with a simple, yet broader instrumental arrangement – a lush musical landscape with Eva’s voice at the center. Death Of Stalin) and William Ross (Star Wars, Harry Potter) the project was made possible thanks to recent advances in machine learning audio restoration technology; the very same platforms and processes used in the 2021 The Beatles: Get Back film.

Eva Cassidy’s original vocal parts have been isolated and accompanied by new arrangements written by Christopher Willis (Schmigadoon! Lukes, the 18 th century former Anglican London church that currently serves as the London Symphony Orchestra’s home, conducted by Chris Egan. All album tracks are available in hi-res 48kHz​/​24bit stereo along with Dolby Atmos and Sony 360 immersive audio formats, a first for Eva Cassidy recordings. I CAN ONLY BE ME by Eva Cassidy with the London Symphony Orchestra is a new work that employs the groundbreaking machine learning audio restoration technology developed by filmmaker Peter Jackson for his 2021 The Beatles: Get Back film.