VieVanessa – ‘Walk On By’

If other artists are incapable of pumping life back into Pop, R&B and Soul, VieVanessa is ready to fire it back. The strength of her craft and her music in general, is her willingness to be totally transparent. She delivers passionate, meaningful performances that eschew the factory assembly line approach of modern music productions. She steps as far back from invasive studio technology, as is possible, allowing her natural vocal talents to rise to the fore. There is a real depth to VieVanessa’s artistry that refuses to be watered down in, maybe exchange for commercial success, something greatly admirable about her personality.

This is an artist who knows which musical legacies she wants to belong to, and isn’t afraid to flex outside of the current mainstream’s comfort zone. Yet she finds a way to walk slap-bang down the middle of it, with her latest release, “Walk On By”, which is actually a remix of her original cover, of the Dionne Warwick classic. The remix has all the studio wizardry built around the core of VieVanessa’s refined vocal artistry and the shimmering jangle of the guitar.

In essence, the song moved from being a voice, a guitar, and outdoor ambience mix, to becoming an elegant and sophisticated, electric blend of iridescent atmosphere and soulful groove. The concept is executed effortlessly, without sacrificing the quality of the original version.

From its first moment, VieVanessa exerts her vocal dominance on the track, and never lets go. The result is her most fully realized and nuanced recording to date. VieVanessa is as much an impassioned singer, as she is a storyteller.

Here, she hones in on her ability to stitch together the song’s well-celebrated narrative and give it her own personal thematic through-lines. On “Walk On By”, somehow VieVanessa found a way to elevate an already impactful project while tapping deeper into its many nuances.

She propels a unique and articulate vocal design that assists in emphasizing the message of the song. Of course, VieVanessa has always demonstrated a keen ability for executing song covers, but “Walk On By” sets a new watermark for her efforts.

That said, I wasn’t exactly sure as to what I could expect, at the beginning of this listening experience, but by the time it was over, VieVanessa had by far excelled anything I could have expected. Her voice is one of the most commanding, intriguing, and soulful I have heard in a while.

On “Walk On By” VieVanessa manages to balance her classic, elite, God-given voice with the more modern, and smooth electro-infused pop sounds of the 20s. Hence, it possesses both a sharper edge of vocal maturity and mainstream readiness than anything she has previously done. VieVanessa has wholeheartedly given another dimension and voice to an all-time classic.

If there is a clear future for VieVanessa in the cover work she is currently doing, it’s in her ability to make old routines sound brand-new through the sheer force of her skillset and personality. For where she takes that talent next, we will have to patiently wait and see.