Broadway Alum Shoshana Bean Releases Fourth Studio Album 'Spectrum,' 2/9

Throughout her celebrated career, Shoshana Bean has wowed audiences with her jaw-dropping performances both on stage and in studio. Her three solo albums have topped the iTunes R&B and Blues charts in the US and UK: Superhero (2008), O'Farrell Street (2013) and Shadows To Light (2013), which debuted at #10 on on Billboard's Blues Albums charts. She has amassed millions of views on YouTube, most recently her cover of Taylor Swift's "I Did Something Bad" garnered a frenzy of media attention, as well as earned high praise from Swift herself. Bean made her Broadway debut in the original cast of Hairspray before taking over for Idina Menzel as Elphaba in Wicked and has performed all over the world with artists such as Ariana Grande, Brian McKnight, Postmodern Jukebox (PMJ), David Foster and Michael Jackson.

In an effort to make her biggest and best project to date, Bean dug back to her earliest inspirations and succeeded in recording Spectrum, a triumphant album that combines big band, jazz, and soul to create a sound that is dramatically, holistically, Bean's. Spectrum, her fourth studio album, will be released on February 9, 2018.

The project features backing from an 18-piece big band and arrangements by Grammy award-nominated arranger Alan Ferber. While her three previous albums solely contained original songs penned by Bean herself, Spectrum is a carefully-selected collection of standards, classics and modern favorites, while still including a few Bean-penned gems. Her powerhouse vocals and expert songwriting skills move seamlessly from track to track, and the originals not only hold their own among the giants - they are standouts.

Spectrum starts off with a swingy big band bang in the form of "I Wanna Be Around," a Sinatra classic. The track swings and soars, sounding exhilaratingly fresh in Bean's care, delighting in the relatable wish to watch the heartbreaker get what's coming to them.

The trio of originals follows: Gritty "Strange Thunder" pulses with defiant, horn-led funk, while the aching plea that is "All to Me" draws the audience in and "Remember the Day", a dramatic celebration of independence, features a masterful hook and a jaw-dropping vocal performance.

Bean delivers an energetic, R&B-inspired cover of The Beatles' "With a Little Help from My Friends," with a little help from one of her friends - singer-songwriter Grace Potter. Bean gives a nod to her Broadway roots with a haunting performance of the Lerner and Lowe classic "If Ever I Would Leave You."

In addition to being stirred by Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin and Barbra Streisand, who built the foundation upon which Bean has created her distinct artistic style, Bean found herself inspired by her grandmother while recording Spectrum - something that played a big part in her recording of "How Deep is the Ocean."

"I sobbed the entire way through. . . because we were in that magical studio at EastWest where Sinatra recorded so many legendary hits. And the song reminds me of my grandma, who is a huge influence on this entire project. This song in particular is not tuned or edited - it's as vulnerable as I could possibly be."

It's this kind of storytelling - not only through the lyrics, but through her ability to convey raw emotion through her earth-shattering vocals - that makes Bean stand out among the rest of today's biggest, brightest and best.

Spectrum will be released on February 9, 2018.