To celebrate what would have been her 60th birthday (on February 2), Blix Street Records will release a landmark new album, which pairs Cassidy’s impeccable voice with the backing of the legendary London Symphony Orchestra. But as I went deeper into Eva’s life story and catalogue, I came to understand the extent to which she herself had experimented in the studio and had been looking for new ways to record her songs. The result is an emotive, atmospheric album, familiar yet different, lush soundscapes accompanying pristine vocals. Sadly , I never heard Eva perform live, but I was a fan from the moment a friend pressed a cassette into my hand in 1998.

The Music said that Cassidy was "one of the great singers of our generation" and, rating the album 4/5 stars, added that the release was filled with "beautiful, larger-than-life compositions, deeply rich in texture".Unable to secure a record deal that didn’t compromise her penchant for wide-ranging material, she cashed in a small pension to pay for the recording of her first album, LIVE AT BLUES ALLEY, in 1996.

SONGBIRD, the first compilation curated from the Blues Alley recordings and others she made during her short lifetime, has been certified Platinum in the U. The latest chapter in an unparalleled posthumous career, I Can Only Be Me is a landmark new collaborative album with the London Symphony Orchestra.But as I went deeper into Eva’s life story and catalogue, I came to understand the extent to which she herself had experimented in the studio and had been for new ways to record her songs.

Two-time Emmy-winning producer/arranger William Ross, who created the album's "Autumn Leaves" track, said: "I can't possibly find the words to adequately express my thoughts and feelings about Eva, one of the most unique, hypnotic, and powerful singers of all time. Audio restoration technology developed by filmmaker Peter Jackson was used to strip Cassidy's voice from her original recordings, with the orchestrations being produced in 2021. While it can be easy to argue that much of what made Cassidy’s work so special and so beloved was the simplicity; tasteful, resourceful (real instruments instead of synths) and never flashy, it’s almost impossible to imagine a world in which the tracks on I Can Only Be Me weren’t “meant to be” coupled with strings.

Of the “Songbird” track, Christopher Willis commented: “The wonderful, resonant truth about this song is that Eva is the Songbird, singing naturally from the heart. When singer Eva Cassidy wandered into producer Chris Biondo's studio in Glenn Dale, Maryland to make extra money by singing on a band's demo, she began an unprecedented journey that would lead to more than 12 million albums sold worldwide, largely posthumously.

Back in 2001, it was the BBC playing Cassidy’s version of “Over the Rainbow” that introduced her to British audiences and ignited a media storm on both sides of the Atlantic. Marking 60 years since the late singer's birth, I Can Only Be Me celebrates the striking talent of Eva Cassidy with an ambitious project.All album tracks will be available in high-definition stereo along with Dolby Atmos and Sony 360 immersive audio formats, a first for Eva Cassidy recordings.