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In the Summer of 2007 I was at one of those crossroads. I had just graduated, my EP had come out and I couldn’t figure out what was next. Friends commiserated and everyone had their own pieces of advice, but here I was, eight years since I had started penning songs, four years after I’d started playing onstage and somehow still unsure of myself and the lightly-sketched maps I made for the road ahead.
From my travels that year came the tiny seeds of “Second Skin” – what would become an 11-song collection framed in the mind of a fairly confused young adult leaving the past four years behind while trying to make sense of the proverbial “real world.” I hoped to write songs that might help put life in a framework…or at least keep me from feeling like I was growing up too fast. I spent the first part of 2008 locked up in my room with my guitar. With the help of my producer Alex, who had co-written two tracks on the album with me, I was ready to capture my moments on paper and take snapshots of life as it was, without sacrificing melody, chorus or sincerity. By summer, we had started recording the album in Red Bank, NJ, but it would be another year before the album came out (as many of you may know, financing an album costs an arm, a leg and then some). Heard or unheard, making this album came to put everything in perspective, a reminder that sometimes you don’t have to have everything figured out to write about it. And maybe that’s the whole point of writing after all. By Fall, I’d gotten back with Jon and Dave to start working on the tunes, and before long we were playing shows again. In March, I decided to add on the final track to the album as a simple, piano-vocal song performed in one take. The rest, I guess they say, is…well, you know. Thanks for being a part of my small adventure and for keeping your ears open to the music. Can’t wait to see where the next chapter will lead. Bissoux, Alfa “In Alfa’s sophomore album entitled ‘Second Skin’, we see her in a new phase, which reveals her in her most brilliant form yet… she is currently the best female singer-songwriter in the New York and New Jersey Asian-American music scene.” “Alfa creates excellent music and performs it spectacularly. New Jersey should be proud to call her its own.” "The final track on Alfa’s first full-length album ‘Second Skin’, not only made me stop playing solitaire, but had me completely absorbed in the song’s message of familial love and growth. Mind you, the rest of the album is just as good.” “Regardless of whether a fan is slaving at work and sneaking headphones to listen to Alfa’s songs, she is able to transport everyone to an intimate New York venue where uplifting musical chords and her singing blends together colorful substance…Alfa’s sweet, raspy voice paints a woman mature beyond her years.” “Alfa’s music can be described as having an old school Jewel vibe, with its catchy melodies and distinct sense of earnestness that is engrained in every song.” "Alfa takes the simplest things in life and transforms them into music everyone can relate to. Her honest lyrics and fluid melodies will turn even the biggest indie rocker or hardcore popster into a fan." |
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