Terrence Howard records new album called “Shine Through It”

Posted on Thursday, September 4, 2008

PR - Some may be familiar with Terrence Howard as the Oscar and Golden Globe-nominated star of such movies as Ironman, Hustle and Flow, Ray, Crash and Lackawanna Blues, an actor declared by Entertainment Weekly the “Indie Film King.” Still, what you may not know is that his first love is actually music, which could be heard when he performed Three 6 Mafia’s Academy Award-winning “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp,” along with two other tracks, in Hustle and Flow, as well as his roles in such music-themed films as The Jacksons: An American Dream, Mr. Holland’s Opus and his guitar performance in The Best Man.

With Shine Through It, his debut album for Columbia Records, Howard gets to pursue his true passion, fulfilling the dream the Cleveland native had on arriving in Los Angeles 16 years ago, auditioning, and earning a part, in a Jackson 5 biopic because he wanted to meet legendary Motown producer Suzanne de Passe and further his music career.

Recording the Album: with the “Band of Kings”
· Howard sings and plays lead guitar on a self-penned set of songs that defies description, every bit as unexpected and mercurial as the performer himself

· Going into the studio with four songs already completed, Howard recorded the album in a remarkable 11 days

· Band of Kings includes:
o Co-producer & Upright bass, guitar, drums and piano: Miles Mosley (Lauryn Hill, Herbie Hancock, Common, Chris Cornell, Jonathan Davis)
o Tenor Sax Kamasi Washington (Gerald Wilson, Roy Hargrove)
o Trumpet: Serafin Aguilar
o Keyboardist: Kenneth Crouch (Maria Carey, Patti LaBelle, Eric Clapton)
o Viola: Tom Lea

ABOUT the album SHINE THROUGH IT:
The album’s 11 songs tell about his life, with influences which range from narrative singer-songwriters James Taylor, Bob Marley, Paul Simon and Jim Croce, pop maestros Englebert Humperdinck and Bread (he named his daughter after their song “Aubrey”) and R&B giants The Impressions, The Dramatics, The Stylistics and The Temptations, to world music exotica such as Buena Vista Social Club, Cachao, Nina Simone and Ottmar Liebert and the wide-screen visions of Quincy Jones and Duke Ellington

Track Listing:
1. Love makes you beautiful
2. Shine Through it
3. Mr. Johnson’s Lawn
4. Sanctuary
5. No. 1 Fan
6. Spanish Love Affair
7. Plenty
8. I Remember When
9. It’s all Game
10. She was Mine
11. War

Streaming Links from the new album:

Sanctuary (MP3, Streaming, 320k, Audio) http://release.theplatform.com/content.select?pid=7COewud3cMcUGAWZRp6KuGDMwX1fUBgu&UserName=Unknown

The acoustic guitar and sawing strings of the soulful, romantic “Sanctuary” was inspired by Howard’s chance meeting with Seal and Heidi Klum at a Hollywood party and being impressed by the level of commitment in their relationship (“Living like a Casanova was living/Feeling unsure but no one was missing/Then you called/And you found me/Heading on out to where I was restless… And it’s alright if part of the time/You’ve been looking for me”)

Shine Through It (MP3, Streaming, 192k, Audio)

http://release.theplatform.com/content.select?pid=m5dLSpf_EDycMEl3fLI3RbwQXM4jErg9&UserName=Unknown

The dramatic, soulful “Shine Through It,” with its piano and acoustic guitar groove building to a cinematic climax of strings and horns, is about allowing ourselves to experience the light of spirituality

Love Makes You Beautiful (MP3, Streaming, 192k, Audio)

http://release.theplatform.com/content.select?pid=Ck2FjxEtIt_QJdhgO0kfOJdqI84YsOy7&UserName=Unknown

“Love Makes You Beautiful,” with its flamenco melody and haunting flute voicing its title sentiment, a song inspired by Howard watching people of all shapes and sizes made beautiful by the mere act of being in love, an important theme in his music and his life. “If we can personify love in our nature,” he says. “We can touch something that’s dead and bring it back to life.”