Hitmaker Amy Allen has signed with Warner Records as an artist – Variety

Warner Records has signed a recording deal with in-demand lyricist Amy Allen. The deal was signed last July when Allen began working on sessions with other artists (his past collaborations included Harry Styles, Shawn Mendes and Camilla Cabello) and focused on his upcoming solo debut. Not only did he co-compose all the songs on the album, he also co-produced almost every track.

The first release, “Queen of Silver Lining” will be released in early July but it’s not a bop. Allen Semisnic co-wrote the country-voice single with fellow hit maker Dan Wilson, who has worked with everyone from Dixie Chicks to Adele. “Warner’s VP of ADR, whose album works,” and RR being a major label NDR, was my instinct: “You need to make it,” said Gabe Landman, Allen’s co-manager. “We tried and we tried a production on the song but the magic of the demo was nothing.” However, he added, “It’s a big risk to literally reveal what they wrote this day without changing it.”

But Wilson shares a story that reinforces his resolve: “The same thing happened to someone like you”, a completely, unknown ballad he caroted with Adele. “It makes me proud that Amy got stuck with her gun and didn’t get stressed about how the music usually plays out,” Landman said.

In an industry where most producers are male, Allen’s vision of creative control is as bold as his lyric content: “I don’t say what words or stories I can’t tell,” he said.

But then Ellen’s thing. Take, for example, Harry Styles’ “Ador You”, which became relatively out of place on channels like Sirius Hit 1, not only because it’s not a rarity on modern radio (an unrealistic love song), but also because of its throwback classic rock sound, a funny Complete with single. Format No. 1, it became the largest single hit of a former One-Direction member in America and helped consolidate its artistic integrity.

Landman added, “I think my makeup artists will one day be an evergreen song,” the same can be said of “Ador U”: “It’s a perpetual record – no flash-in-pan single.”

Aaron Bay-Shock, CEO and vice-chairman of Warner Records, shares that optimism. The executive said, “I think artists can spend their entire careers trying to write a good song like Amy Allen’s ‘Queen of Silver Lining’.” Every melody is memorable and addictive. Every lyric is important. Waiting for the next line to be expected. Every line of time puts you in doubt.And when the payoff and solution of the chorus hits you need feel nothing but raising the hair in your arm because it is just so good and strong.It makes you breathe.

No one is questioning Allen’s accomplishments as a hit maker after co-composing Halsi’s “Weed Me My” – the first song of 2019 on Paul Radio, but even at first he had some doubts about moving from behind the scenes to the spotlight. All that changed, however, was that he was invited to perform a few of his hits at the Naras-sponsored singer-songwriter during Grammy Week last year. “I think I got on stage and I was playing ‘without me’, lightning” “I got about three notes in the song and started tearing up.”

“All my friends know I never cry,” she says. “The whole time I was acting like this:‘ What’s going on? What is going on in my body at the moment? ’And as I walked off stage I realized how much I missed the live game. It weighed heavily on me – but I was able to concentrate on writing and put it so far behind in my mind. [for others]. I’m totally ignoring the fact that I like to do it. And so the moment I said, ‘I should be an artist, my songs – and not all my songs are being given up.’ ”

Bay-Shack was already well acquainted with Allen; In fact, she’s been responsible for her big break – and one of Selena Gomez’s hits – in her previous position as a senior A&R executive at Interscope. “One of the first songs I wrote in New York with a few of my friends was ‘Back to You,'” Allen says. “It was a very short acoustic demo with the song for me, and it somehow reached Aaron Bay-Shock.” The next thing I knew, it was released as a song by Selina Gomez, which I had for that time and still it’s a really big thing now. She’s one of the biggest pop stars in the world. “It simply came to our notice then.

“A&R often looks for big names, but Aaron has a reputation for giving new writers crazy opportunities,” Landman said, adding that Allen signed a publishing contract with APG to take a similar shot, where Landman was working from several of the world’s largest publishers. Despite the interest. “He and I connected and Amy was stuck with me during my job change [to A&R at Warner]Landman said. “He’s just a very loyal person who will work with people who feel like family rather than thinking about credit,” Warner explained. “I believe in my heart of hearts that it would be almost unanimous if you surveyed every lyricist in LA and asked which NDR was the most helpful: Aaron Bay-Shock. She is known for it in society but she does not advertise it, which is similar to how Amy does not promote her activities. [on social media]. But that’s why I wanted to work with him to be honest. ”

Landman was referring to Allen’s history of fighting for social justice – and the fact that he was unwilling to take a break from his activism to argue the most important moment of his career. “If anything changes, it’s that Amy won’t be so easy to promote because she prioritized that she’s protesting there,” Landman said, adding that Allen has been marching in the streets almost every day for several weeks. “But you didn’t necessarily know it because he didn’t post it. He’s sharing resources because he wants to make sure his followers take the time to educate them.”

To that end, Allen describes her second single as “music for being a woman right now” because, she says, “it’s hard to quote. When men disagree or get into a fight.” [viewed] As well. And when a woman takes a position, it’s taken differently – like she’s a bitch. So that’s what I’m mocking and calling myself ‘tough’ because I’m moving from love and to freedom. It’s a lot to turn away from and not want to hear, “

Another song called “Heaven” was inspired by several members of the family fighting for dependence but does not glamorize the abuse of sex, drugs and the rock and roll tradition. “A song that wouldn’t be able to be radio in some radio format very clearly about addiction,” Allen says. But at the end of the day, he values ​​the value of authenticity more than airplay, which is a recurring theme in his work. “Obviously it’s a heavy subject,” he said, “but it was important for me to tell this story and express my feelings.”

Landman, who co-directed Allen with Jonathan Eshak in Mick Management, insisted that Allen’s drive extended into the studio and that he was “helpful” in the production process. “He’s a multi-instrumental artist, he’s in every session, he’s picking mixes,” Landman said, not wanting to confuse his clients, “many male artists who complain that they’ve made their own music Don’t play – Amy was actually sitting [control] Room and production of this song. “

Not surprisingly then, the album is heard to be the sum of Allen’s influences from the classic rock he raised to artists who ruled the radio in the 90’s – Alanis Morrisett, Sheryl Crowe, Melissa Etheridge and Meredith Brooks – paintings of an aggressive female brand. – She refers to me as “grown-up women” but it is a distinct departure from music related to Allen. “It’s certainly in the tradition of the singer-songwriter-lyricist but it’s still pop,” he says of his album. “I’m not ashamed of pop music and I like to write the top 40 songs for a bunch of different artists. I don’t necessarily think my album fits perfectly into the top 40 today, but I’ve tried to write what I’d like to see – many more live materials and women being represented. “