Mississauga singer-songwriter Alessia Cohle’s new album, Talk To Me, was released today and our advanced copy has been on repeat in the office for the past few days. The 11 song album is bathed in honesty, emotion and catchy melodies. Fully FACTOR funded (which is impressive in its own right as I’ve received a FACTOR grant in a previous lifetime and it’s certainly a long process), this collection of music showcases Cohle’s songwriting talents and takes the listener into her heart and soul to hear about her journey of ups and downs.

The lead single, “How Bad,” leads with a smooth groove and instantly gets your toes tapping to the groove. The chorus is the real star here as it’s very well written and sets the stage for a searing yet tasteful guitar solo.

There’s an unmistakable country twang to the album along with a modern spin, which will certainly help appeal to a wider audience. With such an array of music genres available for consumption, Talk To Me crosses boundaries that include country, pop, blues, rock and trace amounts of folk.

We featured our local star (who’s now on the verge of taking the next huge step forward) in the Late Summer issue of Modern Mississauga, and during our conversation, she was excited for this stage in her career.

She shared co-writing duties with talented colleagues Douglas Romanow, Adam Searan, Caroline Allen, David Reuter, Jason Lawlor, Brian Maher, Andrea Pearson, Joel Feeney, Christopher Bauer, Benita Hill, Kristen Parisi and Andrea England. With having such an array of co-writing talent, Cohle still managed to maintain her voice and vision for each song.

Her lyrics are honest and give the listener an intimate feel for her experiences that helped shape this album.

Some of my favourite lyrics include:

“There’s nothing worse than breaking down on memory lane” – On Your Mind

“’Cause I was boarding a plane back to Ontario, and you deserve someone closer to you” – Separate Ways

“You took my wings, said the sky was no place for me, I’ve missed the wind for long enough, I’m finally flying free” – Weight Of You

“Lost my breath, I can barely talk, ‘cause my heart picked up right where we left off” - Where We Left Off

Between working at various studios in Nashville and Toronto, Cohle and her team of musicians have cultivated her raw ideas and had them blossom into strong songs throughout the album.

There’s a mix of upbeat, groove-based and mellow songs, which are arranged smartly through the track listing. What some folks may not realize is that one of the most challenging parts of recording an album is creating the final playlist for the listener. Do you put softer tunes in the middle? What do you lead off with? Will the listener think that the final track is my least favourite? What type of audible journey do I want the listener to accompany me on? I find that she’s done a terrific job of arranging the songs so that there’s a strong balance throughout. There aren’t any lulls in the album as it progresses smoothly, illustrating her diverse songwriting with mixed tempos.

The future is bright for Cohle and this album is one that hopefully catapults her on to even more stages and into more listeners ears sooner than later.

Join her on Nov. 15 at Lula Lounge for the Talk To Me album launch.

For an in depth read about Cohle, click here: http://www.modernmississauga.com/main/2016/9/2/modern-music-alessia-cohle

To buy her album and support Canadian talent, click here: http://www.alessiacohle.com/