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[ More Music Reviews ]

Nevena: Nevena

Melodic Hard Rock/AOR

4.5/5.0

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Frontiers Music
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 07.12.2022 | Released: 09.12.2022

Well, this is a big deal. Pun intended. Faithful Dangerdog Review readers will recognize Nevena Dordevic as the vocalist for Serbian band, The Big Deal (formed with her husband Srdjan Brankovic). The Big Deal dropped their debut, First Bite, seven months ago. Recognized in her native country, Nevena is an accomplished vocalist, songwriter, pianist, and educator. But her talent and experience runs much deeper. In high school, Ms Dordevic was a finalist in the Serbia's First Voice Of Serbia. She would go on to attend Berklee School of Music in Boston. Nevena arrives with her first solo project, simply self-titled, Nevena, for the Frontiers Music label.

Nevena

There's a great many things both notable and enjoyable about Nevena. One is simply the fact that talented songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Mike Palace is involved in all three of those aspects. This is reason alone to buy the album. You can expect well-crafted, mixed, and produced AOR melodic hard rock, with Palace's signature fine guitar work. Moreover, Nevena is a clean melodic vocalist who both follows and raises the song melody and harmony with aplomb. Her voice is quite refined, practiced, and controlled in this context yet, perhaps, lacks some clarity by singing in non-native English.

As for the music and songs in general, the AOR melodic hard rock genre has been alluded to earlier. This is self-evident with Writer's Block, Bad Sun Rising, or Veil On The Mirror, and Too Late. However that last song suggests something different could occur. Composed different ways could have been an American pop song ala Taylor Swift or even a modern Nashville country rock song, just drop in a pedal steel guitar. Some songs have song edge. I wouldn't go as far as saying metalish but they offers more drama, like Straight Into Madness or Fire In Me. Even so, all the songs turn on a measure of current pop, even dance, groove sensibility. How you fell about that, or if you hear things differently, are matters of personal musical.

Overall, in my not so objective opinion, Nevena's debut is a solid and entertaining album of classic AOR melodic hard rock dovetailing, perhaps, with modern pop music nuances. I liked it and I think you will too. Easily recommended.

Support the Artist & Dangerdog Music Reviews: This title is available, with unlimited streaming, via an Amazon Music account.

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Nevena's debut is a solid and entertaining album of classic AOR melodic hard rock dovetailing, perhaps, with modern pop music nuances. I liked it and I think you will too. Easily recommended.

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