Love in StereoCarmen Reece is what you would call the epitome of the term, “triple-threat.” The 22-year-old singer/songwriter/pianist/dancer boasts an impressive musical resume, and is emerging as a serious presence with the upcoming debut of her album, “Love in Stereo.”

The talent Reece has demonstrated is a product of hard work and natural ability fused together. The soul singer began playing piano and flute at the age of seven, earned a place in the National Children’s Orchestra of Great Britain at 11, and entered the prestigious Brit Performing Arts and Technology School at 16. Along with Reece, The Brit School has consistently provided society with world-class artists such as Adele, Leona Lewis, Imogen Heap, and the paparazzi-ridden Amy Winehouse.

“From an early age I’ve always been crazy about music, and my parents always said that my ear pricked up listening to anything on the radio, and I was always singing around the house,” Reece tells andPOP. Of her admission into the Brit School, she says “it was wonderful because I got to work with a lot of students that were very talented, recording, writing, and that kind of set me up for breaking out [into the industry] and recording with professionals and writing.”

She’s not just talking about any other professional either. Reece has teamed up with Mark Feist, a multi-platinum producer-songwriter with a world of impressive experience. Having worked for the likes of Beyonce, Celine Dion and Natalie Cole, Reece is working with the best in the business.

Four years after meeting Reece, Feist still remembered the blue-eyed singer from London. In need of a demo singer last year, he decided to pursue her musical talent on MySpace.

“I really thought we would get in the studio and produce a whole bunch of existing songs that I needed cut, and she turns up on my doorstep with her computer and I asked her what she’d been doing, and she said, ‘well, you know, I’ve been really focusing on my writing and I’ve got a few things,’” explains Feist. “I sort of skeptically said, ‘well you know, let me hear something.’”

Feist’s skepticism quickly turned into excitement as he recognized what a rare gem Reece was in the industry. He confirms that “it’s very rare that you find someone that sings like Carmen that also can write and really understand the whole concept of composition because it’s a whole another bag.” This quality of Reece’s, combined with Feist’s unique hands-on approach to producing, created a chemistry that has already resulted in a top-3 hit with “Right Here” on the Billboard Top 40 Dance Chart, and a number 10 record in the club charts.

This recently quick rise to success has been a dream come true for Reece. Already drawing comparisons to Beyonce, and Mariah Carey (an early role model for the artist). “The biggest influences were through my early teens to late teens, which were Mariah, Whitney, Celine, Toni Braxton, basically all the big diva’s. I was drawn to the strength in their voice and their range, and the feeling that they put into the songs,” Reece elaborates.

Reece definitely isn’t lacking in any feeling when describing her upcoming album release. Though a release date has not been set yet, fans can expect an announcement fairly soon. “My sound, I’d like to think that every song I’ve written, whether they’re slow or fast, or a dance track or ballad, that you’re going to feel something from it emotionally and it takes you on a journey,” raves Reece.

“Love in Stereo” brought in an impressive roster of additional writers, including Wayne Hector (Pussycat Dolls, Britney Spears), and Rose Marie Tan (Danity Kane), but Feist promises a real glimpse into who Carmen Reece is. “I will say that the record really is a true representation of Carmen because a lot of the ideas start with her, she brings them to me, and I just polish it up, and coax the best out of it. Definitely the whole album is a real reflection of who Carmen is musically.”

“People love to hype things, and it’s very rare that you have a product that lives up to the hype, and all I’m going to say is that the critic and the public and the radio is going to be the ultimate test here,” Feist continues. “But I truly believe that there isn’t one song on this record that is better than the other. They’re all really solid, and they’re all very different, and we touch on so many different topics musically.”

Love in Stereo embraces a three-dimensional feel that hits the listener musically from all sides. The track lineup includes songs with just piano and vocals to songs with massive background vocals and huge rhythm arrangements. As Feist puts it, “‘Love in Stereo’ really does sum up the whole flow of the record because there are a lot of love songs on the record, but also sonically, from a production and musical point of view, the record has a wide variety of different sounding tracks.”

However, with its variety in mind, Reece and Feist have achieved a consistency in their finished result. Feist attributes this theory to the achievements of the late Michael Jackson, as well as his family members. “One of the things I’ve tried to do on this record is bring it back to a little bit of those Jackson times, even the early Janet Jackson, or a lot of the Jackson records and Michael records – there was a common thread in terms of the sound,” he explains.

“We wrote 30 to 40 songs and narrowed it down to 13 and we’ve really tried to keep a common thread through that. With Michael and with Janet, that’s what kept the consistency going album after album, because they never left that basic core. It kept going but there was still a consistency in the foundation of the music they had originally created so that’s something I’m really proud of with this record because there is a common thread, but every song does not sound the same, it’s very well thought out.”

Reece hopes that this consistency will carry her through to a successful future in music. Her passion and dedication to her craft are evident in her complete immersion in the music world. When asked where she would like to see herself in five years, Reece answers, “I would like to think that I’m on [whatever] album, and people are still feeling the music and I’m creating more, and better songs. Mark and I are planning to work together for a very long time, so I just hope that my music continues to get better and I reach out to people and make memories, make them laugh, make them smile, that would be amazing.”

She adds to aspiring singers and songwriters to “stay strong, stay focused, keep practicing, and perfecting your craft. At times you may feel down and think, ‘where am I going,’ but you never know what’s around the corner. That’s exactly what happened to me, Mark was just around the corner, and if only I’d known that a few years before, I would have had a huge smile on my face but you just have to stay strong and if you’re meant to do it, you’re going to do it. Stay positive, and practice, practice practice.”

This emphasis on practice is sure to be represented in Love in Stereo. Fans can follow Reece and Feist’s latest accomplishments on her MySpace page, as well as follow the cheerful singer’s blog on the site. Reece’s outlook and accomplishment are the results of where hard work and perseverance can take you.

As Feist logically puts it, “stay true to who you are, and always do the best you can. If it doesn’t work, you can always turn around and say, ‘you know what, I gave it my all.’”






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