By Anthony Mclaude, Rock At Night Philadelphia
SINGLE PREMIERE and review of Layla Frankel’s “You Can’t Love Me Like I Loved You”
Can you imagine Etta James performing a Layla Frankel song? If not, then the Nashville-based “Soulcana” (an amalgamation of pop, folk, soul, rock and blues influences) singer-songwriter Layla Frankel has you covered as she unwraps her new single, “You Can’t Love Me Like I Loved You,” to be released on Friday, March 26. It will appear on the upcoming EP Postcard From the Moon.
With a musical style that pays homage to the spirit of the late, great Etta James, Layla Frankel moved to Nashville in 2017 when she was fresh off a cross-country tour. Frankel initially found Nashville to be filled with certain cliques and clichés and started writing with original, bluesy authority. With the new single, she writes of salvation through the eyes of faith, taking on the role of a woman who expresses heartache at one hundred percent, thinking she’d make up for what her man had lacked. Maybe she could have loved him more for the both of them.
“You Can’t Love Me Like I Loved You” was a finalist in the R&B category of the 2020 John Lennon Songwriting Contest as noted HERE.
The single was recorded at Startstruck Studios in Nashville, produced and mixed by Jim Kimball (who has toured and recorded with an extensive roster of artists that includes Reba McEntire, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, and Justin Timberlake), engineered by Todd Tidwell and the executive producer was Mary Johnson. The track features some of Nashville’s top session players:
Layla Frankel – lead vocals; Alex DeVor – keyboards, piano, background vocals; Sol Philcox-Littlefield – electric guitar; Jim Kimball – acoustic guitar, mandolin; Mark Hill – bass; Nir Zidkyahu – drums.
“You Can’t Love Me Like I Loved You” is a feel-good song with a hooky chorus that features horns and harmonies of a bygone era; think Bonnie Raitt, Etta James, Sheryl Crow, Joni Mitchell, and Bob Dylan, but with a hint of modern day music.
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Growing up as a child in a Christian household raised by a single mother and grandmother during the 1990s was such an awe-inspiring adventure. In his Elementary School days, he took a feeling of attraction towards rock ‘n’ roll music as he heard "Beast of Burden" by The Rolling Stones, and "Don’t Let Me Down" by The Beatles playing from his uncle’s 1970 Chevy Malibu garage. Records by Madonna, Alanis Morissette, the Fugees, and Lil Suzy were also being played throughout the house by his mother, dressed in a black leather biker jacket and who would occasionally put the radio on blast.
In 7th grade back in 2002/2003 school year, Mclaude had written the number-one narrative story amongst the class and caught the attention of his then teacher, Mrs. DeFeo as she called him upfront and said “Anthony, your story on ‘The Volcano King’ is incredible. You should be a writer.” Ever since that day, Mclaude in his rebel without a cause era has always kept those words in mind as a way to keep pushing himself past the limits. As fifteen years past, he enrolled himself in Cumberland County College studying journalism and wrote for the university’s Award-Winning Newspaper, The Voice as he grew as a creative and tenacious reporter with a nose for news, and a passion for community journalism. In spite of the blessings outshining the hard times, he received the opportunity to be a staff writer for a local news outlet, The People’s Press of Millville, where he has written five articles, two press releases, page growth, and has received encouraging feedback from the community.
Today he is currently working for the magazines of Eclectic Shades and Rock at Night.
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