Donna Lewis

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Donna's photographic+lyric prints now available in the store. "Nature brings me peace. It’s my meditation in life. I wanted to bring my lyrics and photographs together as one in a beautiful print." - Donna

May 29, 2020: The QueenTown EP, Post Apocalyptic Lullaby is now available!

Listen/purchase link for the QueenTown EP --> https://bit.ly/3c82Jk4

QueenTown, a project fronted by Donna Lewis along with collaborator Pamela Sue Mann and producer David Baron is a bold sensualist excavation into the mind, heart and soul a La Femme. Lewis, Mann and Baron came together during 2019 and 2020 to create the Post Apocalyptic Lullaby EP.

Donna's song I Love You Always Forever remains a staple track on many of todays top playlists and increasingly so in this current climate as people are seeking that feel good factor at home. Donna was recently included in Taylor Swift's playlist in which Taylor shared the female artists that paved the musical roadmap of her life.

Teaming up for this project is Pamela Sue Mann, who forged her signature ethereal art pop style with her self titled album in 1999 and who has since worked with the likes of Suzanne Vega, Gerry Leonard and David Carbonara amongst others, and internationally recognised composer, producer and arranger David Baron whose credits include everyone from Bat For Lashes to Michael Jackson, from Shawn Mendes to the Lumineers, from Meghan Trainor to Lenny Kravitz and many others in-between.

The Post Apocalyptic Lullaby EP is a memorial story of a modern love affair of two souls. The story is told across four chapters/songs of two kindred spirits that felt they knew one another from an earlier lifetime, maybe even several lifetimes. For twenty years they worked and played together like brother and sister.

1. Love Explodes
Two souls, each with their own families now. Years pass, until fate unwittingly brings them back together, where he makes an admission of his illness to her and she bares her soul to him. Love explodes and they fall insanely head over heels into a tumultuous love affair.

2. Done With Love
It was bliss, it was a religion, it was a homecoming of two souls, and it was a disaster. It was a secret, she begged for them to confess. He was a coward and that cowardice, sense of duty, and ultimatum meant love was done with.

3. Delete Delete
An angry moment of irony, expressing a desire to delete the love and memories that still live in the heart, to wipe the human hard drive clean, even though knowing that is an impossible ask.

4. Beautiful Sun (Post Apocalyptic Lullaby)
One thing remains certain in the darkest of dark nights and that is, the sun does rise again. The pain and the heartbreak subside and once again you begin to see the good things in your world.

Listen/purchase link for the QueenTown EP --> https://bit.ly/3c82Jk4

Here is --> the Love Explodes video

And here is --> the Done with Love video

And here is --> the Delete Delete video

And here is --> the Beautiful Sun video

April 17, 2020, a message and a new song from Donna and David Baron: "Feeling fortunate that we can work from home and keep creating, David Baron and I decided to write something together remotely about these times that we’re all going through. Even though I can't be with my family and hug them I feel blessed that I can see them and talk to them every day to know that they’re safe. Hope this song brings comfort, courage and hope to everyone."

Donna has a new playlist on Spotify. You can check it out here --> https://spoti.fi/2VeYYTs

New song - Take it Down; this song was inspired by the hauntingly beautiful film Swallow by writer/director Carlo Mirabella-Davis. Leading actress Haley Bennett takes your breath away seeing her struggle with perfectionism and the mental illness pica.

Listen/purchase link for Take it Down --> https://donnalewis.lnk.to/takeitdown

And here is --> the Take it Down video

Done with Love realeased February 21, 2020: Done with Love is the second single from QueenTown's upcoming EP (a collaboration between Donna Lewis and Pamela Sue Mann, produced by David Baron). Keep an eye out for the official release of the Queentown EP.

Listen/purchase link for Done with Love --> https://donnalewis.lnk.to/DoneWithLove

And here is --> the Done with Love video

Valentines Day 2020 saw the release of a new single from Electric Dots, a collaborative project between Donna Lewis and David Lowe (https://davidlowemusic.com/). They first met and began writing together in Birmingham, England in the '90s and subsequently went on to have their own successful careers. In 2011 Lewis wrote the song Follow my Way, produced by David Lowe for the independent documentary Street Journeys. 2018 brought them together again under the name of Electric Dots. The first single is Marry Me? scheduled for release February 14 2020, production credit Aaron Williams (https://www.aaronjameswilliams.com/).

Listen/purchase link for Marry Me: --> https://donnalewis.lnk.to/MarryMe

And here is --> the Marry Me video

Love Explodes released November 22 2019: QueenTown is a collaboration between Donna Lewis and Pamela Sue Mann, produced by David Baron. Love explodes is the first single from the upcoming EP due for release in early 2020. "QueenTown is a bold sensualist excavation into the mind, heart and soul a la femme."

Listen/purchase link for Love Explodes --> https://donnalewis.lnk.to/love-explodes

And here is --> the Love Explodes video

Donna's partnership with David Baron has continued with the release of their cover of Kate Bush's Running Up That Hill. According to Donna: "I've been a huge Kate Bush fan for years so when David suggested we record a cover of Running Up That Hill with just strings and vocals I was all in! The powerful lyrics always got me thinking: what if we could swap roles with other people? What if we were to walk in someone else's shoes? If we could, perhaps we would find a lot more compassion for each other. David and I wanted to give Running Up That Hill a uniqueness that the song deserves. Starting out with a stark piano vocal performance, David then wrote a string and synth arrangement around the vocals to create a beautiful balance of simplicity and complexity."

You can --> check it out or download it here

David Baron's latest recording Bad Bad Love is an astounding collaboration with Donna Lewis and a timely track that expresses the "mournful yearning of a mother who has been separated from her child." There is a --> write-up on it here and --> another write up here, and you can --> check it out or download it here and view the video.

Donna is featured on one of the Delia Derbyshire Appreciation Society remixes She Brought The Sun, coming June 14, 2019 --> check out the DDAS remixes here

Koishii & Hush's latest release 'Still Connected' is their second collaboration with Donna Lewis. This down-tempo ethereal love song is backed with a club mix by renowned Dutch producer and remixer, Matt Pop

Check out Still Connected here
Purchase Still Connected here.

Lewis’ recent album Brand New Day was produced and arranged by David Torn, the genre-busting composer. Brand New Day is an intoxicating set of jazz-inflected covers and Lewis originals in which she is joined by the preeminent progressive jazz musicians Ethan Iverson (piano), Reid Anderson (bass) and Dave King (drums).

With her distinctive, breathy voice and unique phrasing, Lewis brings a fresh immediacy to the covers on Brand New Day, including David Bowie's infrequently heard "Bring Me the Disco King," Neil Young's "Helpless," Damien Rice's "Amie," and Chocolate Genius' "My Mom," among others. The album also features two new Lewis originals, “Sleep” and “Brand New Day,” as well as a powerful remake of "I Love You Always Forever."

Here's what Anil Prasad of Innerviews had to say about Brand New Day:
"Here's a beautiful album you all should check out: Donna Lewis' 'Brand New Day.' Produced and arranged by David Torn, the focus is on reinventions of material by people like David Bowie, Neil Young, Damien Rice and Chocolate Genius. Her version of "Bring Me the Disco King" is unlike any you've ever heard, with percolating bass work from Reid Anderson and flickering percussion from Dave King. ( You can hear it in its entirety at the bottom of this article: http://tinyurl.com/o2plvg7 ) The album has a strong jazz component, but the expansive nature of the musicians means the arrangements stretch far beyond those boundaries. Most of the album's tracks were recorded in a single take which is reflected in its intimate vibe. The album also includes two original pieces. Lewis is best known for the colossal pop hit "I Love You Always Forever." Since then, she's gone on to collaborate with Torn on several soundtracks, as well as work with The Art of Noise. 'Brand New Day' is an impressive reflection of her journey to date and a great album to chill out to. Highly recommended."

PRESS HIGHLIGHTS FOR BRAND NEW DAY:

“Her vocal style (Lewis’) is lilting and deeply reflective… A refreshing batch of cover versions.” — ★★★★ BBC Music Magazine

“The mood is hushed and intensely personal... This is an intriguingly successful collaboration between an unusual team.” — Jazz Views

“Lewis shows impeccable taste... Electrifying.” — The Irish Times

“An inspired partnership... her (Lewis') emotive voice with the modern architecture of the jazz piano trio.” — London Jazz

PURCHASE LINKS FOR BRAND NEW DAY:

PRESS LINKS:

VIDEOS:

PHOTOS:

Donna at The Bearsville Theatre with Alan Hampton, Jared Shonig and Jesse Stacken

Donna with Oli Rockberger and Michael Janisch at The Montreux Moda fashion show

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bio

"I Love You Always Forever" was such a huge hit for Donna Lewis – a dance-pop classic for which people around the globe still have boundless affection – the 1996 song will always be the one for which many fans know her. But the Welsh native is an artist of many dimensions, as she has demonstrated with efforts ranging from "At the Beginning," her charming duet with Richard Marx from the Anastasia soundtrack, to Be Still, her lovely voice and piano album. True to its title, her eagerly awaited new album, Brand New Day, is a striking departure from anything she has done before.

Produced by her longtime friend and collaborator David Torn, who arranged all the songs, Brand New Day redefines her as an artist while maintaining the wonderful open qualities her fans love.

Lewis, grew up in a musical family in Cardiff, Wales. Her father was a self-taught jazz-style pianist and guitarist. A fan of jazz singers including Ella Fitzgerald and Mel Torme, as well as piano rock king Elton John, she began writing her own songs at 14. She received classical training at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, where she majored in flute and piano and was made an honorary fellow in 2000. She performed in piano bars across Europe and developed her writing and recording in her own home studio.

Atlantic Records Chairman Doug Morris was so enamored with her demo for "I Love You Always Forever," he flew Lewis to New York to meet him and offered her a deal on the spot. "I Love You Always Forever" – featured on her 1996 debut album, Now in a Minute. It became the first song ever to get a million spins on American radio and the third best-selling tune in the history of Atlantic Records. The record was an international sensation, zooming up the charts all over the world.

Lewis' second album for the label, Blue Planet (1998), spawned two hits including "Love Him," which topped the Billboard dance charts. While on hiatus to start a family, she left her mark on such projects as The Art of Noise's The Seduction of Claude Debussy and the all-star 2001 benefit album, Utopia. She also collaborated with Italian producers Souled Out, co-writing the track 'Take me O' which stormed to Ibiza success in 2000. She also began her creative partnership with Torn, a guitarist and studio wizard known for his film scores (including Friday Night Lights and Lars and the Real Girl). In 2001, five electronically textured songs Torn and Lewis wrote and recorded for the Chute project were the most requested on L.A.'s beloved KCRW for three weeks running.

The stripped-down acoustic approach of Be Still pointed the way to Brand New Day. But first came Lewis' high-energy 2008 album, In the Pink, produced by Gerry Leonard known for his work with Bowie which was praised for its "supremely undeniable Euro-style catchiness." The single ‘Shout’ became a top 5 radio song in Southeast Asia and was also featured in an Irish independent movie '32A'.

In 2011 Lewis wrote the song 'Follow my Way' produced by David Lowe for the independent documentary 'Street Journeys' and in 2012 she collaborated with the progressive house duo Project 46 and DubVision and released 'You and I' on Spinnin' Records which reached top 5 on the Beatport chart.

In 2013 Lewis and Torn began planning the Brand New Day project with executive producer Jeff Resnick. It was, said Torn, pure "kismet" that he and Lewis were able to get Iverson, Anderson and King for Brand New Day.