- 2021-08-31
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MUSIC
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Donate to support families affected by the crisis in Ukraine ➔ Diane Warren Releases Debut Album “Diane Warren: The Cave Sessions, Vol. 1”: Streaming
American songwriter and producer Diane Warren released her long-awaited debut album “Diane Warren: The Cave Sessions, Vol. 1” on August 27, 2021.
The album comprises of 15-track, featuring guest appearances from Céline Dion, Darius Rucker, James Arthur, James Morrison, Jimmie Allen, John Legend, Jon Batiste, Lauren Jauregui, Leona Lewis, LP, Luis Fonsi, Maren Morris, Paloma Faith, Pentatonix, Reik, Rita Ora, Sofía Reyes, G-Eazy, Santana and Ty Dolla $ign.
Diane Warren has written nine number-one songs and 32 top-10 songs on the Billboard Hot 100. Two of the top 13 hits in the Hot 100's 57-year history were composed by her. She has won a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, three consecutive Billboard Music Awards for Songwriter of the Year, and has been nominated for twelve Academy Awards. Also she has been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
But surprisingly, “Diane Warren: The Cave Sessions, Vol. 1” is her first ever album.
Diane Warren said of the album, “A lot of people have done this kind of project — Mark Ronson or Calvin Harris or DJ Khaled — but no one who is just a songwriter has. So why not me? I thought it would be a chance to work with artists I love and other artists I want to work with, and create a cool body of work that shows the diversity of what I do.”
“The idea was to have it be like a microcosm of my career,” she told Apple Music. “Most songwriters work in one genre of music, and I've always been in a lot of them, so I just wanted the album to reflect that. I wanted to be what ties it together, even though the songs are all over the place. Why not be DJ Diane for a record?”
She added, “This album is more than just a collection, but a perfect way to show the range of my songwriting by some of the most exceptional artists of our time that I have the honor to work with. For every song, there is a story.”- Diane Warren explained track-by-track for the album via Apple Music.
“She's Fire” featuring G-Eazy, and Santana
“I wrote that little guitar riff at the end of the chorus, and in my mind, I heard Santana playing that. I'm a huge fan of his, and we'd never worked together. The idea was to have G-Eazy do a rap, but have him sing, too. I reached out to him, and it's the first time anyone's ever said yes before hearing the song. I don't think that was because of me; I'm sure that was because of Carlos. I've got to hand it to him—he went right in the studio and just started singing, and he wanted to work with a vocal coach. I mean, he really worked hard on it, and I think it's great.”
“Seaside” featuring Rita Ora, Sofía Reyes, and Reik
“Everybody wants to be by the seaside, on the sand in the tropics somewhere. I wrote this during the pandemic, when we couldn't even do anything like that. None of us could get on a plane and really do that unless you lived there. I thought of Rita, and I didn't know much about Sofía Reyes, but I listened to her, and I loved her voice. If you can't get to the seaside, we'll bring it to you, you know?”
“Sweet” featuring Jon Batiste, and Pentatonix
“I wrote that right before the Oscars this year. I was up for an Oscar, and so was Jon Batiste. I thought, 'His whole vibe is so up and positive, and that's what the song is.' Pentatonix, they were recommended by my dentist, who knows one of the guys and set up a Zoom for us.”
“When We Dance Slow” featuring Luis Fonsi
“Luis is just one of the best singers, not just in Latin music. When I wrote 'When We Dance Slow,' I immediately thought of him first—he has that kind of soaring voice that could really be great for that song. I would love it to be as big as 'Despacito.'”
“I Save Me” featuring Maren Morris
“I reached out to Maren on Twitter. I told her about the record and asked if she'd be interested in doing a song for it. I just said, 'I have two songs that I think are both great for you. I'm going to send you both and see which one that you choose—if you choose any at all, because you might hate them both.' But she loved 'I Save Me.' I didn't have a demo; it was just a shitty guitar vocal of me singing it, and she took that and made this great record out of it.”
“Where Is Your Heart” featuring John Legend
“The album started because of this song. Some years ago, John came to my office. I played him a couple of things that he wasn't into. I said, 'Well, I just wrote this song. I'm not sure it's right for you.' I played him that, and he loved it. And then we went in and he recorded the next day. He was going to use the song, and then he didn't; I gave it to another artist, who was going to have it be their single, and I told John, because I'd given it to him first. And he said, 'No, get it back. I'm going to put it out.' Everybody that I know that ever hears it, they're sobbing at the end. And so, that kind of started it, like, 'I'm going to get the song heard. The only person that can do the song is John Legend.'” -
“Drink You Away” featuring Ty Dolla $ign
“It's kind of like a hip-hop country song, and I thought, 'Who's the perfect cast?' This is so cool for Ty, because he can sing, but he doesn't do this kind of song. I want Ty Dolla $ign to have a number one country song.”
“You Go First” featuring James Arthur
“I love heartbreak songs, and 'You Go First' is just such a stunning vocal performance. When I was writing it, I was hearing this voice, which sounded infinitely better than my voice singing it. I'm drawn to singers that have pain in their voice, and he has a lot of pain in his voice.”
“Not Prepared for You” featuring Lauren Jauregui
“Lauren has such a great, soulful voice, and she hasn't had that one song yet. I love those Phil Spector girl-group songs, and that's what 'Not Prepared for You' was: It's sonically and lyrically modern, but it has that retro chord progression. Lauren sang the shit out of that song. When she goes up the octave at the end, I think that'll be her career song. I've had a lot of them with people. I really feel this is one of those.”
“You Kind of Beautiful” featuring Jimmie Allen
“I met Jimmie at the Academy of Country Music Awards. We stayed in touch, and when I wrote 'You Kind of Beautiful,' I thought that was a really great song for him, and he sounds awesome on it.”
“Domino” featuring LP
“It's the weirdest song on the album, but I think it's going to be a lot of people's favorite. It's like a spaghetti Western with those kinds of guitars. The cool thing is a lot of these people write their own songs, so it's always really cool when they sing mine. When you hear the marriage of that voice and song, it's just—there's nothing like it.”
“Superwoman”featuring Céline Dion
“It's like that other side of 'I Save Me': It's more like, 'I'm human, I can't be Superwoman.' I wanted to have Céline on the album, and I thought the perfect song would be 'Superwoman,' which is not the typical Céline Dion song, at all. It's almost like a Lauryn Hill vibe; it has more of a soul kind of thing to it. I always thought Céline has a soul singer in her that isn't utilized as much as I'd like.”
“Times Like This” featuring Darius Rucker
“One time about five years ago, I was in Nashville and I saw someone with a sign saying, 'I'm not going to lie. I need money for beer.' And I thought to myself, 'That's going to end up in a song someday.' And it did. It's the first line in this song. I just wanted a hopeful song for whatever we're going through—whether it's a pandemic or whatever hard time you're going through—and in times like this, we could all use an angel.”
“Grow Old With Me” featuring Leona Lewis, and James Morrison
“I love Leona Lewis. She's a fellow animal-activist person, like me. She just has a great voice. I wanted this song to be a duet, and I love James Morrison. I think he's a very underrated singer. I think it lends itself to a lot of sync uses, too. I could just see it used everywhere. It's a great wedding song.”
“Blessings” featuring Paloma Faith
“I thought that this is a great song to end with—that all this shit you go through, they're all blessings anyways, if you can learn from them. You don't know it when you're going through it, but yet they're lessons and blessings. I just love the idea.” - source : Apple Music
