Diamond Veil

Apart from Lady Gaga's 'Born This Way', Sweetbox's 'Diamond Veil' is my most hotly-anticipated album of 2011. I'm not sure if Ke$ha's or Jade Valerie intend to release anything, but if not, this is unlikely to change. I have always loved Sweetbox and when Jade ditched in 2006/2007 I was very curious to see what would happen with the project. I was greatly surprised when Jamie Pineda replaced her, but even more so when I realised she was not simply a 'replacement', she was en entirely different singer and personality with a mighty voice!

Jamie's first album 'The Next Generation', that she co-wrote many (if not all?) of the songs for, was a remarkable album! I'd describe her voice as a mix of Rihanna and Beyoncé but with the vocal range of someone along the lines of Mariah Carey or Christina Aguilera. Ultimately she doesn't just 'sound like other artists' though, she definitely has her own voice. She may be deemed a pop singer but her vocal range transcends anything Britney or dare I say Gaga could pump out. My favourite song off of TNG is "Coming Home To You" which doesn't exactly show-off her vocal abilities to their extreme, but still shows how pure and beautiful her voice is. 

I'm super excited about 'Diamond Veil' after hearing snippets off the newly released website at http://wmg.jp/sweetbox. You can hear the snippet for the album's first single, 'Remember This Dance', as well. Annoyingly the site's largely in Japanese but what I have been able to decipher is that the song 'I Know You’re Not Alone' is going to feature in a upcoming Japanese movie called 'Paradise Kiss' which'll be great promotion for Sweetbox! (Well, I actually discovered that from Sweetbox-Haven) So go check it out -- and I'mma figure out the cheapest place to pre-order the album, HMV.jp is always expensive but likely my go-to option. I want a physical copy of this baby, I iTunes'd 'The Next Generation' but this one I want to hold in my hands. Go check Sweetbox & Jamie out, and follow her on twitter here.