Have you noticed that most movie trailers these days use dark, epic, and orchestral covers of famous songs? Fascinated by this new style, singer Moana A and film composer Daniel Belardinelli created this poignant cover of Kelly Clarkson's pop / rock anthem "Since U Been Gone" (released on February 28).
The singer-songwriter Moana (that's her real name, sorry Disney) was born in Saint Martin and grew up on a sailboat. She obtained her bachelor's degree at Berklee College of Music with congratulations in 2011. Her first album "dotted" was funded by a crowdfunding campaign on IndieGogo in 2013, and quickly followed by a support contract with the brand Daisy Rock Guitars . Based in LA, she regularly takes the time to go on tour around the world: Abu Dhabi, Indonesia, India, the Mediterranean region, the Caribbean, and almost everywhere in the USA. She is also a studio singer for several projects, including the TV hit series on YouTube, Badanamu.
Daniel Belardinelli is a Los Angeles-based film composer. Coming from Venezuela, he obtained his master's degree in composition at NYU. His music was used in LAMB (by Ross Partridge, produced by the Duplass brothers, with Oona Lawrence starring) which premiered at SXSW; Blood Brothers by Alexi Tan, produced by legendary director JohnWoo; Final Witness on ABC; 30 for 30, the ESPN documentary nominated for an Emmy award; Coasterville, an interactive online social game with more than 15 million users; advertising campaigns for Steven Spielberg's The Post; Catfish; 16 and pregnant; Keeping Up with The Kardashian; I am Cait; Coutdown to Zero, the Vice Report on HBO; and many others. Daniel is also a member of Duomo, a team of composers with Axel Tenner from Berlin. Together, they released 4 albums released by Position Music, with plays in film trailers such as "The Post" by Steven Spielberg, "Colette" with Keira Knightley, and many other HBO and Netflix documentaries.
• How did such an unlikely collaboration come about?
One evening, Moana sat at her piano with the idea of changing Since U Been Gone from major to minor, thus giving the lyrics an almost sarcastic tone. Daniel then created a whole world around the initial vocal note. Adding orchestral drums and strings, he totally transformed the song! He even added a whole new section after the bridge, which begins peaceful, with calm notes to the harp and vocal whispers. But we pass quickly through moments of dissonance which are resolved immediately, which creates an effect of suspense, as would a film soundtrack. The song sounds like a bitter memory: strong emotions illustrated by the powerful vocal belting in the bridge, but with a constantly present vulnerability. The original version of the song is full of high, powerful and gravelly notes. Moana and Daniel wanted to keep this aspect, while making the atmosphere much less optimistic. This emotionally charged cover will quickly be followed by other covers of pop and orchestral music.
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