AMANDA ROGERS
Daily News

It takes something special, almost magical, to transform a noisy venue into a place of spellbound attention.  Where usually wild abandon rules you could suddenly hear a pin drop.  Where kids with spiky Mohawks, waiting for their favourite punk band and bemused by this delicate girl's efforts to haul her electronic piano on stage, suddenly find themselves listening to her songs with reverent awe.

Time and again, this is what happens when Amanda Rogers takes to the stage.  Anyone who has been lucky enough to witness this 22-year-old behind her piano instinctively sensed that this was more than a performance – when she sings, she relives her songs and imbues them with irresistible magic.

On "Daily News", her latest album, Amanda has managed to capture this intimacy and intensity.  Although often reduced to the complex, but sensitive piano playing and her bewitching voice, her songs possess an intriguing and heartfelt depth, inviting her listeners to dive right in.

The twelve tracks of "Daily News" draw on a wide variety elements from classical music to jazz and pop. Amanda cites composers like Chopin or Rachmaninov amongst her influences as well as Radiohead or Bright Eyes – during her gigs she has often covered songs by the latter. Together with her unforgettable intensity it is this subtle blend of classical training and indie/punk roots which lends her music its special and unique touch.  Despite her relative youth Amanda has come up with an impressively mature album that bodes well for this talented songwriter's future output.