Alyson’s setting dance floors on fire with her sophomore album, Hey You!

by Paul E. Pratt

Who’s afraid of the music industry’s dreaded “sophomore jinx”? Not dance-pop singer Alyson, who landed five singles from her debut in the upper echelons of Billboard’s dance charts and returns later this month with follow-up Hey You!

Alyson gives her adopted hometown of West Hollywood its first taste of her new music Sunday, May 18, at here lounge. Surrounded by her gay fans, who helped crown Alyson “The Princess of Indie Pop” and made her a regular on the LGBT Pride circuit, the singer celebrates the release of Hey You! and screens the new video for its title track, followed by an 8:30 p.m. performance.

“With the first album, it wasn’t like I went into the studio to record a CD. It was more like I started writing songs and, all of a sudden, I had enough for an album,” she reflects on her debut Take A Good Look. “This time we thought a minute about what we wanted it to sound like. It was really, really cool—a really different experience.”

As with her first album, Hey You! combines dance, pop, R&B and even world flavors. According to Alyson, the 10-track collection—which includes current international hit “Forever”—shows her continued growth as a singer/songwriter. In fact, the set’s lead dance single “Here With Me” took first place in the 15th annual Billboard Song Contest Awards

“I was thrilled to win!” admits Alyson, who had never entered a songwriting competition before. As a result, she was invited to perform the song at the magazine’s awards show this past March. She hopes the accolades help bring increased interest to the song and album.

“It’s a challenge every day, as an independent artist, to spread the word about your music,” says Alyson, who is already slated to perform at this year’s Los Angeles LGBT Pride. “That’s one of the biggest obstacles with the new album. It’s largely about word of mouth. You don’t have that multimillion-dollar budget to promote your music to radio.”

What Alyson lacks in budget, she makes up for in business savvy and motivation. Her first album, self-produced and released on her own PM Media label, landed the cheery singer on charts around the world, film soundtracks and atop Logo’s Click List music countdown. Hey You!—co-produced by Jeremy Yeremian, who has collaborated with Pink, Kelly Osbourne and Ricky Martin in the past—seems headed in the same direction.

Taking a two-prong approach to success, Alyson has serviced the album’s “mod-influenced” title track and retro-flavored video to pop radio while “Here With Me” makes inroads at clubs. With remixes by Hex Hector, Friscia & Lamboy, Klubjumpers and more, the track is nearly guaranteed to be a hit with DJs around the world.

Though she realizes releasing two singles at once—both of which she promises to perform for crowds at the here lounge record release party—goes against music industry norms, Alyson says it’s a sign of the changing times.

“With the music industry today—there really are no rules!” she says. “That’s one of the beautiful things about being an indie artist. You don’t really have rules to abide by. You can write whatever you want. You can perform wherever you want. You can do whatever you want!”

For more information, go to www.alysongrooves.com.