Queen Alone, Lady Wray, LP

Lady Wray / QUEEN ALONE - VINYL LP - Virginia-born singer/songwriter Nicole Wray has everything you'd want in a singer: an infectious Jackson-5-family-member flare, a range like Aretha's, and a church upbringing that's brought a pure, healing texture to her voice. But the struggle she's been through has made her more than a singer. Nicole Wray is an artist. - When talking about Queen Alone, her first solo album in some time, Nicole explains, "It's a reflection of my soul. It's who I am today." And aptly so. Released on Brooklyn's Big Crown Records, Nicole is writing and singing songs about her life. And yet to even start to know her soul, you have to go back to the beginning. - Almost echoing her new record, Nicole says, "You have to go through something for it to be real." She has been living with one foot in fame and the other in real life. The result is clear: she's feeling something real in her music again. And it's hard for us as listeners not to follow suit.