Lee DeWyze
Singer-songwriter Lee DeWyze's rousing emotionality and storyteller songwriting hasenthralled both fans, and high-profile film/TV/advertising sync licensing tastemakers,earning him over 30 prime placements in just a few years.
There is a crystallizing moment in Lee's childhood that poetically pre-figures his nascentgift as an empathic and sensitive songwriter. It's become a piece of lore in the DeWyzehousehold. When Lee was just four, his mother was listening to John Denver's "Sunshine OnMy Shoulder," and noticed Lee was crying. Turns out, he was so taken aback by the song itmoved him to tears.
"Songs are magic for me-I've always wanted to live inside them," the Mount Prospect,Illinois-based artist says. "My aim with my music is to give people a moment oftranscendence where they can step outside their world and into the song. I want to spreadthe magic."
Lee's latest is a darkly cinematic album that represents a profound breakthrough in thepower of letting one's emotions take reign in creativity. Paranoia-out February, 16,2018 on Shanachie Entertainment-grants the listener intimate access to an achinglybeautiful netherworld that's both seductive and sagely wise.Lee is a visionary songwriter with a catalog of seven albums, and a robust profile of syncplacements and features. His songs brim with sophisticated hooks and heartfelt storytellerlyrics. Lee is a hands-on artist and ensures that every facet of his creativity reflects hisartistic authenticity. To that end, he overseas every aspect of his albums, including coproduction,album artwork, and video treatments.
Lee grew up in Mount Prospect, Illinois, and, at a very young age, would obsess over folkpopartists such as Simon & Garfunkel and Cat Stevens. Some of his earliest memories arestaring out the window, imagining he was inside the world of his favorite songs.
Lee knew he was destined to be a songwriter, and, by the age of 17, he was a professional musician,touring, recording, and earning regional radio spins.
His career took a massive turn in 2010 when he won the ninth season of AmericanIdol. The honor offered a boost in exposure to an artist already two-albums deep in apromising career. Post-Idol, Lee's profile has skyrocketed as his songwriting has earnedimpressive sync placements. His breakout moment was penning "Blackbird Song" for thehit horror AMC series The Walking Dead.
Since that track's release in 2014, it has accruedover 12 million YouTube views, over 6 million streams on Spotify, and has sold over100,000 copies, putting it in the Top 10 of 2014's most influential music syncs.Since that career milestone, Lee has become a formidable artist in the sync licensing world.Select career highlights here include placements in Elementary, Suits, TheFosters, Nashville, Reign, Hart of Dixie, and Bull. Blue Cross/Blue Shield chose his song,"Don't Be Afraid," as its official national campaign song two years in a row. ESPN placed hissong, "The Ride," in several NASCAR commercials. In addition, Lee's song, "Fight," crackedthe Hot AC Top 40 charts for 10 consecutive weeks. "Fight" was also featured in thecritically-acclaimed indie movie, Sister. Lee directed the video for "Fight" for which he wonan award from the LA Indie Film Festival.Lee's previous album, Oil and Water, earned accolades from Billboard and Huffington Post,among other outlets.
It also cracked the Top Billboard Folk Charts, and made the Top 10"Album Of The Year" list for PopDose Magazine. Recently, Billboard.com premiered thelyric video for his latest single, "The Breakdown" from, Paranoia. On the heels of all thisheat, Lee has signed a publishing deal with Songs Publishing, home to Lorde, The Weeknd,and Diplo, among other modern iconic artists, and signed an exclusive deal with CESD, theleading voiceover agency for animation, videos, film, and more.Paranoia, is an immersive 10-song collection that lures you in with engrossing narratives ofstruggle, salvation, and vulnerability. "I'm at a point in my life where I feel more open toshare my experiences. On this album, I'm letting my guard down and being moreemotional," Lee confides. "There is a lot of difficult things revealed on this record, but thesongs are meant to show the light in the darkness."
The production on Paranoia, a joint effort between Lee and longtime co-producer/artistically Nico Grossfeld, is sleekly intimate, melding Lee's singer-songwriter compositions withdreamy electronic soundscapes. "I wanted people to feel like they could take a warm bathand submerge themselves in these songs," Lee says.
Upon entering the world of Paranoia, songs like the title track, "Sink Or Swim" and "LonelyHearts" offer a majestic sense of emotional surrender. Lee's low-register vocals on theethereal "
Paranoia" hypnotize the listener, submerging you into blissful melancholia. Leerecently posted a goose bump-inducing video of him performing the song by candlelight inMansfield, Ohio at the Ohio State Reformatory Prison Chapel where the ShawshankRedemption was filmed. The stately "Sink Or Swim" pulls at your heartstrings with avulnerable acoustic singer-songwriter composition textured with heavenly harmonies andmoony electronic ambience. Lee favors the grandeur of the piano on manyof Paranoia's tracks, and "Lonely Hearts" benefits from this elegant touch, lending abeautiful bleakness to lyrics like Lonely hearts are broken everyday, everyday/That's justhow we play with it In the end/Oh everything will change, things will change Wake up soyou're not missing.
Crucial to that "light in the darkness" spirit of the record are the tracks "Let Go" and "CarryUs Through." The intimate "Let Go" feels like it's being performed only to you, in a darkroom under a spotlight. The lyrics are a wakeup call that it truly is always darkest beforedawn. Here, Lee sings: Were fighting just to pass the time I know Let it go Let it go. Thealbum concludes with the sweetly wary anthem, "Carry Us Through." "That is like a palettecleanser. It is there to give people a sense of hope at the end of the record," Lee shares.
Now, on the other side of Paranoia, Lee has learned a lot by purely letting his vulnerabilityand emotions guide his songs. "This is the beginning of a new chapter for me. I tapped intodifferent parts of my songwriting on this album. It's like discovering a new door in a houseyou live in-you walk into another room, and there are four more doors to explore in thatroom. But maybe one of those doors goes back to the comfy living room," Lee says laughing.