Bree Rose - Breakthrough [EP]

Bree Rose – Breakthrough
2012, Iafelice Publishing

Bree Rose Iafelice has been lighting up New Jersey stages for a few years now with pop/punk acts such as Rockit and The New Royalty.  Showing composure on stage that belies her seventeen years, Bree Rose also sallies forth with a voice that’s been compared to Avril Lavigne and Katie Perry.  I get the comparison, but there is something in the wonderful clear tone and ice edge that runs through the middle of Bree Rose’s voice that has the potential to raise her above either artist.  We see hints of this on Bree Rose’s solo debut EP, Breakthrough. 

Kicking things into gear with “Wake Of Our Reckoning” keeps the energy high on an Evanescence-style rocker, with Bree Rose showing Amy Lee-like vocal tendencies while pouncing her way through a challenging vocal line. “Hands Up” is wound up and wrapped up in electronic sounds, and is perhaps a bit overdone in this regard.  The song itself is well-written, and allows Bree Rose to show off the contrasts in her voice; lyricism and edgy power dance around each other here, giving no quarter and asking none in kind.  Bree Rose’s pop sensibility is flawless. Bree tones it down a bit on “I’m Not Afraid”, regaining some composure but not losing any of her dynamic appeal.  The song itself is a bit bland compared to the rest of the material on Bree, sounding a bit more pop radio oriented and safe.

“Breakthrough”, Bree Rose offers up an easily digestible piece of alt-pop with great pop sensibility and a memorable chorus.  The sonic filling is aurally appealing, as Bree Rose pulls you along in an active, energetic love song that gets stuck in your brain.  Bree Rose delivers on a stark, Cimmerian beauty with the ballad “Just Until You Bleed”.  The song construction here is intriguing, blending guitar, bass, drums and strings to create a gothic hard pop sound that you’ll be thinking about and returning to for some time.  Out of all this rises a memorable chorus; the sort that might just find its way through to commercial radio and stick around for a nice vacation on the charts.  Through it all Bree Rose is just on the edge of some emotional precipice; madness?  Perhaps.  It doesn’t matter; what does is the overall effect – amazing. 

Safe might work for airplay, but Bree Rose excels the most when she doesn’t play there.  That ability to hang on the knife’s edge and completely lose one’s self in a vocal performance is the borderland between a great vocal performance and a legendary one.  It’s often next to impossible to capture that dynamic in the studio, but Bree Rose dances with it on “Just Until You Bleed”.  Bree’s voice is a pleasure to listen to even when she isn’t all the way out there and Breakthrough is aptly titled; for this is the sort of breakthrough that leads to big, big things.

Rating: 4.5 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about Bree Rose at www.facebook.com/breerosemusic.

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