Shayne Leighton

Storytellers, invariably, are born performers. Shayne Leighton’s life has likely been building to this moment when the writer and actress would find the budding musical artist within and give her free reign to play. The thrill of discovery charges the result, a six-song collection entitled Invincible. Leighton’s singing sounds like she has been unleashed – her voice is the album’s true highlight and its life-affirming fury burns brighter than her trademark red hair.

The storyteller behind her fiction translates well over to her songwriting. Despite their sometimes clichéd sentiments, “This Time” and other songs of its ilk on Invincible are saved from total disposability by the unique consciousness coming through in these tracks. Leighton has flashes of real style as a lyricist and her phrasing takes occasionally unusual turns. Those qualities emerge in a much stronger way on “Dream of You”, a track that does just enough new things with borrowed images and unoriginal subject matter to set it apart. Leighton, however, gives it more with one of her best vocals on the EP.

The absolute best vocal, however, doesn’t come with one of her own songs. Her cover of Pat Benatar’s “Invincible” lingers in the memory as irresistible fun and it isn’t difficult picturing Leighton’s satisfaction hearing her first playback of this song. Her energy and authority claim the song as her own; she never sounds out of her depth and clearly defers to the original while stamping it with her own spirit. “Midnight Man” is a solid pop song with moments of real depth, but the real star there is Leighton giving another memorable vocal.

A constant of this EP is that Leighton has palpable energy to burn as a performer and nowhere is it clearer than on “Foolin'”, an otherwise paint-by-numbers rocker about a liar. She scales impressive heights with average material by filling it with fire-breathing intensity, especially during each chorus. “Wolf at the Door” ends the EP well thanks to its gritty edge and a strong groove. The mix highlights some particularly slinky bass playing.

For longtime admirers, this is a promising sample of the entertainment she is poised to bring as a musical artist. For the uninitiated, it captures the first stirrings of a potentially important new musical force. Leighton sings like someone pursuing this as a passion, not a hobby.

YOU TUBE: https://www.youtube.com/user/ShayneLeightonVEVO

Joshua Stryde

8/10 Stars. - Band Blurb

Shayne Leighton’s music is about many things, but three things driving its heart is storytelling, atmosphere, and self-empowerment. Those qualities are present in each of the six songs on Invincible, her debut EP, and provide an entertaining journey for the listener. Her backing band is skillful, if only occasionally inspired, and the songwriting misses many opportunities to frame her vocals and lyrics in more compelling light. Her singing is the album’s undisputed strong suit, but it is not enough to lift this out of the mire.

Poor production on her opening song does not help. It is a common expectation that songs with titles and lyrics like this demand hard-charging, cinematic music that generates tension and resolves it in an entertaining way. “This Time” fails on both counts and, instead, confuses volume with creativity and clangs to an indifferent end. Clichés litter “Dream of You”, but superior production, songwriting, and singing saves it from total disaster. Leighton’s passionate vocals invigorate the tempo with her emotive yowl.

The title track is a cover of Pat Benatar’s biggest eighties hit. There is nothing here that helps a listener guess Leighton’s history with the song, but if the performer provides any clues, it is clear from her note perfect rendition that she admires and respects the song. “Midnight Man” sounds deflated in comparison and never scores attempting to maintain hard rock tendencies alongside Leighton’s pop leanings.

“Foolin'” is laughably derivative, but Leighton nearly overcomes its familiarity with a real blood and guts vocal. No one can accuse her of playing it safe as a singer. Instead, she gives herself fully to the material on each outing. The evocatively titled “Wolf at the Door” has suggestive imagery working for it and Leighton conveys herself with the same energy as before. The song gives her rhythm section a chance to stretch out a little and their playing ranks as one of the album’s true highlights. This is the first song that establishes a great groove rather than relying on music accumulating its effects over time.

There are some weaknesses and outright mistakes burdening Invincible but, overall, Leighton’s six song EP announces her as a rising musical force with the talent to help tailor her own future. It’s impressive how she’s managed to fill her songs with the same strong storytelling virtues found in her fiction.

7/10 Stars

– Pamela Bellmore - Indiemunity

Writer and aspiring actress Shayne Leighton branches out into music with this six song EP, Invincible. It’s an apt title for a first release from such an assertive, confident performer. The confidence in her voice and music is the likely product of a passion burning in her since she was six years old. In her twenties, Leighton nevertheless sings with the conviction and skill of someone much older without ever sacrificing an ounce of youthful vocal power. Instead of pursuing pure pop, as many of her contemporaries might, Leighton is an obvious hard rock fan.

However, if you are embracing hard rock in this day and age, it’s probably wise that you tailor your songs for a reliable audience. Beginning with “This Time”, Leighton lays out themes that sustain her songwriting over the course of the EP’s six songs. Her audience for music isn’t far removed from her literary audiences – younger, fantasy fiction fans, sensitive, imaginative, and searching for identities. Responding to the assurance heard in “This Time” is easy and the song has clear accessibility, but hazy production blunts its power. “Dream of You” continues with similar themes of doomed longing, but the presentation has far greater sonic appeal and has some unexpected songwriting twists.

Reactions to her cover of Pat Benatar’s “Invincible” will fall onto two sides. Some will accept it as entertaining mimicry while others will wonder why someone who aspires to serious critical attention invoke eighties kitsch. It will be hard for objective listeners to ignore the attention to detail and obvious respect in this performance, but it rocks convincingly as well. The modern sound breathes new life into an old classic. The unsatisfying “Midnight Man” has glancing appeal thanks to its inability to sustain interest. There are an assortment of moments in the song when Leighton and her band slide into exciting, unfamiliar territory, but it never lasts.

Listeners should appreciate “Foolin'” for what it is – nothing particularly new, but a rocker belted out with enough conviction that it banishes all flaws. The track suffers from bungled production that leaves it a muted shadow of the monster it might have been, but the song’s lyrical content has universal resonance, hits her target audience on a bullseye, and Leighton puts it over with a show stopping, surprisingly gritty vocal. The finale, “Wolf at the Door”, is full of crashing guitars and moves at a mid-tempo crawl.

This isn’t any contender for release of the year or career-defining effort. Leighton has many albums, much finer than this, looming in her future. However, this is an entertaining collection that doesn’t always find its mark, but when it does, the results are impressive enough to suggest coming back for more is a good idea.

8/10 stars

I-TUNES: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/invincible-ep/id976008070

Robert E. Fulford - Rock N' Roll View

Shayne Leighton, writer and actress, adds music to her impressive resume with the six song EP Invincible. This Spectra recording artist blasts through each of the songs with outstanding passion and benefits from a strong backing band capable of matching her songwriting vision.

Leighton reaches for a strong hard rock sound and grasps it from the outset. “This Time” is assertive and performed with conviction, but deserves punchier production befitting its content and status as opener. There’s no question she has pipes to deliver attention-grabbing vocals, but she tends to rely on theatrics and range in this song more than she should. “Dream of You”, however, shows another side. Leighton proves herself more than capable of unleashing astonishing vocal power and giving phrasing the priority it deserves. The songwriting has greater weight here as well. Instead of leaning heavily on well-worn musical and lyrical traditions, Leighton instead recasts an otherwise straightforward ballad of longing as a darker, dissonant track that implies much more.

Her cover of Pat Benatar’s “Invincible” crackles with surprising vitality. Covers, particularly of iconic pop songs, come in distinct shapes and sizes. This performance, only a few minutes in, is clearly uninterested in reinterpretation and, instead, focuses on nailing down a convincing update. It succeeds, by that standard, spectacularly. She shows a continued willingness, on “Midnight Man”, to take musical chances. The songwriting alternates between a mundane mid-tempo meander and brief, darker passages that gives the track powerful dynamics. The up-tempo “Foolin'”, like the opener, sounds like a track taken off an unaired MTV Headbanger’s Ball broadcast. The comparison is not entirely flattering. Like the opener, “Foolin'” sounds flat. It needs guitars romping out of the speakers and Leighton’s big voice overwhelming you. Instead, it is just there, and sadly inert.

The final song, “Wolf at the Door”, is one of the album’s stronger tracks. It comes from a similar vein as “Dream of You” and “Midnight Man” in that it attempts to pour new wine into old bottles by using the hard rock form in an individual, distinctive way. Leighton’s lyrics fall into cliche some throughout the album, but “Wolf at the Door”, like earlier songs, distinguishes itself as vivid and sharply observed.

Not without flaws, Invincible nonetheless sets Leighton apart as a compelling singer and a likely powerful live entertainer. If this is intended as a primer to her future work, it’s an excellent offering that shows us the first flowering of a likely important new musical artist.

YOU TUBE: https://www.youtube.com/user/ShayneLeightonVEVO
URL: http://shayneleighton.com/

8/10 Stars
By Lydia Hillenburg - PenWeb Tickets

Today’s Band of the Day goes to female rock artist; Shayne Leighton. She is one amazing and talented singer who is ready to rock your world. In addition to having powerhouse vocals, Shayne also is an actress and a bestselling author. Her debut EP Invincible includes a stellar cover of Pat Benatar’s rock hit, Invincible. Shayne is quite busy out on tour with beauty brand, How To Be A Redhead which allows her the platform against bullying and to embrace individuality.

Her passion and drive is highlighted when she sings, and her captivating vocals will insure her place among the many great female rockers, Lita Ford, Joan Jett, Pat Benatar that have forged the way for women in rock. - Music Junkie Press

Shayne Leighton, author of a popular vampire series and young actress, has turned her creativity and energy to her first love, music. Leighton started singing when she was six and it’s nothing short of astonishing that her five star voice has stayed under wraps for so long. No matter now. Her debut EP, Invincible, is a full throated musical coming of age that shows an artist equally concerned entertaining the audience and making personal statements.

Unfortunately, the songwriting often lets her down. “This Time” promises to be a rousing, tone-setting opener, but it never really catches fire. The lack of any satisfying climaxes turns problematic as the song progresses – it’s easy to find your attention growing restless waiting for some unifying moment to come and, as a result, feel like the song is much longer. The production sounds flat and this drawback is another problem hampering its potential. The improved production on “Dream of You” is immediately noticeable, but the best improvement comes with the song’s agile balancing between traditional elements and a darker, more individual edge cutting through.

Her cover of Pat Benatar’s “Invincible” is an ideal fit for Leighton’s voice. She lets it rip with, if anything, more conviction than even Benatar summoned up for the original. The band plays with whip-snap intensity that helps put the performance over as something more than pure tribute. “Midnight Man”, however, feels like a fully developed lyric and vocal searching for a better song. On a track like this, the songwriting should have moved as far as possible away from the expected, but instead tries to maintain an uneasy balance between formula and creativity that doesn’t work.

“Foolin'” is the album’s least thought-out moment. This is a positive because the song never pretends to be anything else but a full-on rocker. Leighton lets it all out with an angsty, tough-minded vocal that is perhaps her best singing performance on the album. The album ends with “Wolf at the Door”, one of Invincible’s truly successful moment fusing pop sensibilities with a rock edge. Inventive rhythm section work further helps the track avoid any of the cookie cutter atmospherics and dynamics of earlier songs.

Invincible proves Leighton has the voice to go far, but the songwriting remains unresolved. Much of the hard rock here lacks groove and relies on tropes that date the music. There are moments of genuine promise scattered among the debris and, without question, Leighton’s writing talents translate well into her new medium, but she doesn’t have everything together quite yet. - Gashouse Radio

The Skinny: Within the first six months of Shayne Leighton's debut single release, the "Invincible" artist is catching fire, partnering with the nationally renowned beauty brand How To Be A Redhead, for their national Rock It Like A Redhead tour. This will be the bestselling author, actress, and breakout recording artist's first tour, which she will utilize to promote her debut classic rock album, Invincible. The album will be released worldwide on April 7th, 2015. - PureGrain Audio

No matter what you dress something up as, you can never hide its true nature. Shayne Leighton markets herself as a passionate, imaginative performer with a rebel heart determined to follow its own path. Even an objective cursory listen to her six song debut EP, Invincible, blows that puffery to bits. She is a success-minded performer on screen and stage alike cannily co-opting a genre and audience with commercial potential. Invincible is, largely, a product of focused marketing, not artistry.

Everything on Invincible hinges on romance – the romance of self, with others, with the future. Leighton obviously aims “This Time” at a youthful audience of teenagers and early twentysomethings with whom her songwriting will find its strongest resonance. The song bungles its aims however and ends up a foul tip instead of a home run. It’s not unfortunate that Leighton believes these songs are best served by a hard rock backing, but what is unfortunate is that the backing is poorly produced and unconvincing. The situation improves some with “Dream of You”, but as the title makes clear, Leighton is still embracing hard rock trappings for what are, essentially, teenage pop songs of thwarted love and desire.

The album’s one unmitigated success, the title track, works so well thanks to Leighton’s powerhouse vocal and strict adherence to Pat Benatar’s original vocal. Her backing band turns in a superb performance and the production gives it the best possible forum for success. The next song, “Midnight Man”, never produces much tension despite the relatively clever arrangement. Leighton has spent much of her album creating the aforementioned “renegade” pose, but the songs aren’t here to support it. “Midnight Man” feels fat with those same calculated changes and warmed-over menace.

“Foolin'” is a welcome turn after “Midnight Man” as its back-to-basics hard rock approach is a breath of honesty blowing away its uninspired predecessor. It isn’t revelatory in any way except one – if she hasn’t already, Leighton convincingly proves she is a first class rock singer with her powerful wailing here. “Wolf at the Door” is, perhaps, the album’s best band performance. Atmospheric guitar work sets the stage for star turns from the bassist and drummer alike. Their fluid work in tandem gives Leighton a great foundation for one of the album’s stronger lyrics.

Marketing spoils anything. If I could wish anything for Shayne Leighton’s career, I’d wish that she told anyone giving her artistic advice to piss off and she’s going to follow the words and music in her head, no matter the cost. There is too much disguised pandering here, too much loyalty to dead formulas. Leighton sings like she’s capable of much more.

I-TUNES: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/invincible-ep/id976008070

Lance Wright - Music Existence

Shayne Leighton’s creativity never stops turning. Not content with a considerable fan following resulting from her popular Of Light and Darkness fiction series and a promising acting career, this intelligent young artist and performer has readied her first music EP for release. Invincible is a six song collection full of songwriting recalling themes in her fiction and highlighting her vocal skills.

Invincible opens with “This Time”, a guitar-driven mid-tempo rocker with a vivid lyric. The mix muffles the instruments and vocals enough that the production imperfection takes some edge off an otherwise assertive opener. Leighton’s chasing a decidedly retro sound here, a lite metal attack reminiscent of the late eighties and early nineties. The lyrical content deals some in clichés, but there are flashes of a vivid imagination coming through. Her gifts as a singer are, likewise, very real, but she underplays a lot of her own material here and sabotages its potential. “Dream of You” has the good wisdom to place Leighton’s vocals in less identifiable surroundings and the results will pay off for many listeners. Unlike the opener, there’s no basis for comparison – Leighton owns this unique song, a collision of the ballad and art rock forms. Her fully invested, emotive vocal power translates the song’s sentiments from the familiar to the intimate.

Leighton scores effortlessly with title track, a cover of Pat Benatar’s 80’s smash. Hearing her vocal makes clear how she’s paid close attention to Benatar’s phrasing and intonation in the original. The band’s energetic performance and strong production slap a new coat of paint on the song. “Midnight Man” opens with mournful guitar and distant, practically ghostly, percussion. Leighton quickly dispenses with the spare, quasi-Baroque gloom in favor of a much more traditional mid-tempo song about sated desires soon thwarted. Her vocal finds some much needed grit for this often missing from the earlier songs and it helps immensely.

“Foolin” takes up the retro-mantle of the opener and runs with it. It suffers from the opener’s same deficiencies. The mix burdens the track with an odd muffled quality that short-circuits its fiery attitude. Even in its slightly compromised state, this is a solid, if unspectacular, rocker. “Wolf at the Door” closes the album with another mid-tempo, guitar-heavy workout. While it relies a little too much on clichéd guitar fills and rhythm work, it’s a strong track musically highlighted by great drumming and bass playing.

This is a solid first step for Leighton into a brave new world. There are, undoubtedly, problems to correct, but there’s a lot of promise here. Leighton’s determined spirit shines through on every track, so there’s little reason to believe that listeners won’t soon be hearing from her again with a new release improving on this in every way. Until then, her fans will be pleased by this, though she’s unlikely to win any new converts.

7/10 Stars

URL: http://shayneleighton.com/

Jason Hillenburg - Skope Magazine

"Invincible" features 6 powerful, modern, well-crafted and well-performed rock tracks that will please each and every single fan of female-fronted rock music. "This Time", the opening tune, is just brilliant! Powerful and in-your-face this song will grab you at once and will make you whistle it for days! "Dream Of You" is yet another killer track out of this debut! A great mid-tempo rocker that includes a brilliant melody. To sum up here, I have to say that SHAYNE LEIGHTON with this mini-album achieves to impress with her incredible voice and her passion! Highly recommended to every fan of female fronted rock music! Rating : 8,5/10 - Heavy Paradise

Shayne Leighton. AND SHE’S A BEST SELLING AUTHOR?!!?? She sings cool rock music AND she writes vampire novels.

Yo, Claire here. To begin with, I’m queen at multitasking. I’m training our new Alternative Music Director, blogging, facebooking, AND eating. Go me. I mean there’s not much I can do outside. It’s hot. And it’s raining outside. It’s somewhat gloomy because of the rain as well. But at the same time, the dark clouds outside and the distant thunder goes very well with Shayne Leighton’s song “Invincible.” The heavy guitar and very clear lyrics that tell you to go out and stand up for yourself against all odds makes me want to run through the rain and be victorious should I not get insanely wet.

OR…we can just get straight to the point and say that her music is tastefully associated with her vampire novels.

“We cannot fight to be innocent. Stand up and face the enemy. It’s a do or die situation. We will be invincible”

I’m going to be playing “Invincible” in my head while I read her work.

But, putting all funnies aside, it’s a good song. Shayne has that female voice that would make anyone want to go out and do something great. Be a hero, you know? And her voice is very soothing yet well rounded.

“We got the right to be angry. What are we running for?”

And now I am putting the book down and associate her music with other subjects. To be honest, and this is coming from my knowledge of the women and genders studies program here at Valdosta State University, this song would be perfect for the Vagina Monologues that take place here every Spring semester on campus. That or it would be perfect for the events that focus on physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and the goal to spread the awareness of those problems in our society.

All in all, it’s a very good song to lift your spirits and stand up for yourself. Now excuse me while I go run in the rain or find a cute vampire lover. Go check out Shayne Leighton! The song is to be released on August 12, 2014.

https://www.facebook.com/shayneleightonfans - WVVS 90.9 Blaze FM