Great sounds from the new girls

It is the time of the singer-songwriter. Think Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Pharrell Williams, Lorde and others. And the girls are right up there in full battle gear, giving the guys a big run for their money. One of them, so new and so talented is Ella Henderson.

Simon Cowell also signs losers. That was the case with the then 16-year-old Ella who was booted out of X-Factor Britain on the sixth week of the ninth season in 2012. But Simon saw something special in the budding singer-songwriter and as with what usually happens with his choices, he was right. Ella is currently the most exciting new presence in the UK charts. She is being hailed as a successor to Adele, the female counterpart of Sam Smith, a British Taylor Swift combined with the vocal pipes of Kelly Clarkson.

Ella has been singing since she was three years old and went to a performing arts boarding school. She is an enchanting mix of good looks, powerful vocals and a gift for composing lilting lyrics and melodies. She has the distinction of being the only X-Factor contestant to perform only original songs during her stint in the competition. Her ballads, mostly melancholy are deeply affecting while her up-tempo numbers literally invite movement. No wonder, her first single Ghost was an instant hit that reached up to No. 1 in the charts. The song was co-written with Ryan Tedder, frontman of the rock band One Republic who also did Bleeding Love for Leona Lewis and other hits.

Ella’s first album Chapter One also made No. 1 and became one of the biggest-selling releases in the UK last year. There are 18 cuts, all of them are originals and all of them save one, co-written by Ella. No covers for this girl. Three hit singles have been released, Ghost, Empire and Glow. All are big sellers and I can count several more in the album like Beautifully Unfinished that will surely make the grade. Truth to tell, Chapter One is so well-produced and so full of hook-filled songs performed by a strong, passionate voice. It reminds me of Carol King’s Tapestry, a landmark album so littered with hits that it just knocked the socks out of everybody. And Ella is only 18. Can you imagine what she will be like in a year or two or more?

Chapter One has Ghost, Empire, Glow, Yours, Mirror Man, Hard Work, Pieces, The First Time, All Again, Give Your Heart Away, Rockets, Lay Down, Missed, Billie Holiday, Beautifully Unfinished, 1996, Five Tattoos and Giants.

Here is another girl that I am sure everybody will enjoy listening to.  Technically, she is Australian. She was born and bred in Sydney of the Land Down Under. But then, Marlisa Ann Punzalan’s parents are true-blue Filipinos who immigrated from the Philippines to Australia before she was born. So I ask, can talent such as hers be anything but inborn, inherited from mom and dad, or built into her by the now fabled gene that makes Pinoys excel as artists wherever they go? Given those circumstances, I say it is now okay to lay claim to Marlisa as a Filipino. That way we can describe her looks, her voice and her star quality as truly Filipino.

Marlisa, all of 15 years old and a high school student, was the winner of the sixth season of The X Factor Australia last year, the first contestant in the under 25 girls category to win the contest. She made her recording debut for Sony Music Australia with her winning song, Stand By You. The single soared to No. 2 in the charts and was declared a Platinum seller. It also went on to sell lots of copies in nearby countries like Singapore and New Zealand. This was followed by the release of her first album a few weeks later.

Also titled Marlisa, it is obvious that the album was hurriedly put together to cash in on the success of Stand By You and her sudden popularity. It has 11 cuts, all of which are songs she performed during the contest. These are beautiful oldies and Marlisa’s extraordinary singing prowess is showcased in all its glory. Her singing is  fantastic in every cut. Still, it is her next album which hopefully will have more originals that will truly prove her worth as an artist. She has just begun and has lots of time for that.

Included are Stand By You, Yesterday, All By Myself, Hopelessly Devoted To You, Let It Go, Nothing Else Matters, Try, Titanium, Somewhere Over The Rainbow, Girl On Fire and Impossible.