By M&C News Apr 2, 2008, 15:03 GMT
Capitol Music Group recording artist Ferras (pronounced Fer-AHSS) has released release his debut album, ‘Aliens and Rainbows.’ The work of the audacious young artist has already attracted the attention of the hit Fox series "American Idol," which will use lead single "Hollywood's Not America" in the episodes for Hollywood Week.
"Aliens and Rainbows is about that other place where you go in your mind, when you just want to escape - when the world lets you down, when you feel misunderstood," says Ferras. "It is a place for dreamers and misfits and outsiders."
It's a place he's spent a lot of time in. Growing up in a small town in southern Illinois, Ferras always felt out of place - a feeling only compounded when one day his father took him to the airport, promising a trip to Disneyland, but instead spiriting him away to Amman, Jordan. Ferras took solace in the little Casio keyboard his father bought him and began writing songs.
Produced by The Matrix (Avril Lavigne, Jason Mraz, Korn) with their frequent collaborator Gary Clark (Natalie Imbruglia, Lloyd Cole), ‘Aliens and Rainbows’ is a daring, ambitious pop record, a fresh reminder that sometimes it takes an outsider to give voice to the emotions buried deep inside us all.
From the anthemic "Liberation Day" and the silky ballad "Soul Rock" to the celebratory "My Beautiful Life" and sensual plea of "Take These Lips," there is an urgency to Ferras' work. He approaches a big pop hook the way a Formula One driver approaches a straightaway: he floors it. The energy is palpable, the songs transcendent. And while there are nods to his influences - Bowie, The Beatles, Elton John - the songs are infused with a distinctly personal sensibility.
"From the start, all I wanted to do was write and sing songs that would make people feel something," says Ferras. "I'm grateful to have gotten the opportunity to be who I am, for the journey that led me to this moment."
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