The muse works in mysterious ways. Case in point: John DeNicola. After some five decades in the recording industry, the award-winning songwriter and producer made his first album as an artist in 2019. Fast forward—very fast—to now, for the release its follow-up, She Said, due out November 5th via Omad Records. And while DeNicola’s debut, The Why Because, had him interpreting tunes he’d originally penned for others, She Said was conceived and created for one voice, one touch, and one heart: his own.
A Long Island, New York, native, DeNicola began playing in bands as a kid in the 1970s and was a member of the jazz-fusion quintet Flight, which released the acclaimed album Excursion Beyond on Motown. Yet as time went on, he found himself drawn more to a creative life behind the scenes. Collaborating with fellow tunesmith Franke Previte on those “TOML” and “Hungry Eyes,” the two mega-hits from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack — which held the #1 spot on the Billboard 200 albums chart for 18 weeks and ultimately sold more than 60 million copies worldwide — netted DeNicola an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a Grammy nomination, and ASCAP’s Songwriter of the Year award in 1988.
Such success meant freedom, and DeNicola used it to nurture new talent (discovering a little band called Kara’s Flowers, who later changed their name to Maroon 5), supply radio-ready tunes for contemporary chart-toppers while composing for an annual Shakespeare festival, and launch his boutique label, Omad Records.
She Said finds this talented artist taking the spotlight as he offers his truest musical expression to date.
Although he does the lion’s share of playing on She Said, DeNicola did call on gifted friends to chime in at all the right places. There’s crystalline keyboards from Vinny Jessel, a spectrum of synths from Ray Weiss and ripping guitar from axeman Zonder Kennedy on the post-apocalyptic “Morning Dew,” written by Bonnie Dobson in 1961. (The record’s only other cover is Steve Winwood’s “Can’t Find My Way Home,” which has DeNicola layering on a host of instruments, including cello and tanpura, to remarkably simple effect.) She Said also features a veritable who’s who of percussionists, from DeNicola’s son Jake (drummer for Omad act Fovea) and Chris Ryan, who provided the drum programing on the shimmery “Our Day Will Come,” to alt-rock kingpin Blake Fleming and the legendary Brian Delaney, who’s hit the skins for everyone from the New York Dolls to Wu Tang Clan to Melissa Etheridge. DeNicola even tapped the talents of guys he’s known since his tweens, including guitarist Ken Favre, pianist Alan Zahn and bagpiper Brad Davidson.
Pack a full heart, an open mind and a pair of eager ears—and come along to hear everything She Said.
Today Glide is excited to premiere the lyric video for “Love Divine,” one of the standout tracks on the new album. Beginning with a melange of sounds that could come from Morocco, the song quickly drops into a power pop meditation brimming with catchy vocal harmonies and a message of love. Seemingly pulling a card from the classic pop songbook, DeNicola manages to convey a sense of tenderness without being overly cheesy.
DeNicola describes the inspiration and process behind the song:
“Love Divine” is a song about the transcendence of love. Regardless of where it is going, where it’s been or how it ends up. That divine feeling of something that’s real and beyond our control. Using Sitar, Clavioline, harmonium, tanpura and the usual guitar, bass and drums the marriage of a lyric, chord changes and melody hopefully take the listener to a higher place.
LISTEN:
Photo credit: Casey Steffans
One Response
This is amazing!!!!