If Justin Timberlake and Sting could have a baby his name would be Roz Bell, my first hot tip for 2007. With his infectious "rock 'n soul" sound and good looks to boot, Bell is the perfect package to storm the pop charts this year. His album "The First Sunbeams" will be released in March in Canada. No U.S. release date has been scheduled at this time. But this urban troubadour is signed to Universal so with a bit of luck he can be heard around the globe before you know it.
Hailing from Toronto, Bell started his songwriting career when he was ten years old. Initially, he wanted to be an MC, but he was later turned on by by the sweet pop and rock 'n roll from people like Bruce Springsteen, Hall & Oates and Bill Whither. "My whole goal is to sit in my bedroom and write my own 'Lean On Me,'" he says in a press release. With the help of producers James Robertson, Jeff Blue and mixer Neal Pogue, he finally has a chance to make a mark of his own with his debut album "The First Sunbeams."
Listen to Bell's lush pop tune "Papercut" that is a song that poignantly describes how men and women can differ. "The track is about a woman overreacting to something. Something the man sees as being as harmless and small as a papercut. But the man fears he might be losing her this time and is trying to change her mind," Bell tells Arjanwrites.com. "Musically, it's a throwback to Hall and Oates and that 80's "big chorus", R&B-influences pop/rock."
Stream Roz Bell "Papercut"
