Awakening marks a turning point for Lizzie Thomas. This is a moment where she fully leans into her own sound and trusts it to carry her somewhere new.

Across nine tracks, she blends the elegance of jazz with the warmth of neo soul and the brightness of pop in a way that feels effortless. The record moves with the confidence of an artist who knows exactly what she wants to say and isn’t afraid to say it.

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Her voice is the heart of it all. One minute it’s smooth and smoky, like the great jazz singers she clearly admires. The next, it’s raw, and brimming with soul.

You believe her when she declares self-love in “This Love”, and you get caught in the quiet spell of the title track, “Awakening”, with its hypnotic cycle of fifths pulling you deeper each time it turns.

The arrangements are lush without feeling heavy. The Grammy winning Harlem String Quartet threads through the songs with a touch that is expansive and intimate, while electric bass and the warm swirl of the B3 Hammond organ gives the album a contemporary pulse.

This is certainly a sound that steps away from the Great American Songbook without losing the richness and detail jazz fans crave.

Lizzie Thomas has a real skill for writing songs that transmit personal truths with something grander. Much of the album’s material came to her through dreams, meditation, as well as moments of stillness, and that intuitive process is easy to hear.

“Magnificent” glows with gratitude for life’s cycles, “Home” aches with the memory of her late mother, and “This Fire” carries an urgency that makes it hard to sit still.

Awakening doesn’t feel like a “genre” album though. It is more of a map of where Thomas has been and where she’s heading. It’s bold, it’s tender, and it’s unafraid to mix the spiritual with the sensual.

Released August 8th on GODDESS Legacy Records, it shows Thomas not just as a world-class vocalist, but as a composer and producer in full command of her craft.

About Lizzie Thomas

Born in Pittsburgh and raised in the South, Lizzie Thomas developed a love for jazz early in life. After honing her vocal and performance skills, she moved to New York.

A true jazz aficionado, Thomas quickly earned a place in the New York jazz scene, where her bold interpretations and engaging performances has won her fans over.

Her critically acclaimed albums include New Sounds From The Jazz Age and Duo Encounters and has performed sold-out shows at iconic venues such as Birdland, the Triad Theater, Chelsea Table & Stage, and Blues Alley, and has shared the stage with jazz luminaries such as Ron Carter, the late Russell Malone, Helio Alves, and the Harlem String Quartet.

Keep up to date with everything Lizzie Thomas on her Website

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