Album Notes

Arden Kaywin, LA’s newest female pop singer/song-writer, gives listeners a personal take of her own twenty-something crisis on her album Quarter Life Crisis. Arden is that rare combination of a gifted songwriter with the vocal talent to match. Her songwriting abilities have a top 40 sensibility while maintaining honesty and a depth of lyrical insight.

Quarter Life Crisis is an ode to a journey taken by Arden herself. “My album is called Quarter Life Crisis because I was going through such a crisis myself when I wrote it. I had too many unanswered questions in my life.” These are the same questions many young adults ask themselves after they have left college and realize that the real world is not what they expected. It was during this critical period of change that the songs from Quarter Life Crisis were written.

The CD opens with the radio track, “Me With Me” which was recently nominated by the Independent Music Awards for Pop Song of the Year. The song is also considered to be one that particularly stood out for Arden during her time of transition. “It was written after I’d finally started enjoying being single again. So in a way it’s a song about empowerment.” In addition to her nod for Pop Song of the Year, Arden has also been nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year by the 2005 Los Angeles Music Awards.

Arden’s music gathers many influences. “When I was a child, I was obsessed with Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. Then in high school I discovered artists like Tori Amos, Dave Matthews Band, and the Indigo Girls. That’s when I fell in love with songwriting as a craft.” During that time, Arden studied classical music and attended the prestigious Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the renowned Manhattan School of Music. After a while it became clear that the classical world was not where Arden’s passion and future were destined. “When you’re studying classically, it’s kind of taboo to be playing or singing pop music because the technique is so different”, she says. “There I was in class perfecting Mozart, only to go home and write pop songs that nobody knew about”. So Arden decided it was time to follow her dream and move to Los Angeles to tackle the world of pop music.

After a year of playing live shows around the greater Los Angeles metro area, Arden collaborated with her producer Rudy Hausermann and finished recording her debut album Quarter Life Crisis. Arden recruited Grammy Nominee Rob Jacobs (Alanis Morissette, Sheryl Crow, Shakira) to mix the project. “It was a really great experience working with Rob because he’s an incredibly talented mixer and he has all this knowledge from having worked with so many successful artists in the past.

Arden explains the overall recording process and what Quarter Life Crisis means to her. “I’m very lucky that I am able to write about these experiences. My hope is that those who listen will relate, and they’ll find some comfort in knowing that they’re not the only ones out there going through a tough time figuring themselves out, because in the end, it’s these obstacles and experiences that make life more interesting.”

For more information on Arden Kaywin, please visit www.ardenkaywin.com.