Amara revives a Lionel Richie hit.

With most of the other girls in the current trend acousticizing some of this decade’s big tracks, a new voice took some steps backward and picked older songs for her debut album “Acoustic Café.” Her voice though assured that a step back meant going forward twice the power.

Amara, her name meaning “God’s Delight,” is the delightful voice behind the cover of Lionel Richie’s hit “Stuck On You” which is at present being played on easy-listening radio frequencies. The song is of course known as interpreted by a familiar male voice, giving her rendition a freshness more emphasized by her obviously experienced and professionally matured singing.

The promising signed artist of Synergy Music has been singing in a choir since she was 8 and began singing professionally as a wedding songbird at the age of 9. This early training gave her the confidence and credibility. “As you grow as an artist, it’s not about the ‘tili’ anymore. It’s about the musicality and how you express the songs,” Amara tells the Manila Bulletin in an exclusive chat.

She is a self-confessed Regine Velasquez-admirer; having done some of the latter’s numbers on her way up to becoming herself. Listening to her 16-track covers CD reveals that she really has already graduated from the kind of belting the Asia’s Songbird is known for.

One can notice that most of the time Amara consciously veers away from the style of the original singer of every famous single she has revived. She has in her list three Air Supply songs, all written by Graham Russel and distinctively sang by his partner Russel Hitchcock. She explored the songs “Chances,” “One That You Love” and “Now and Forever” in ways that give the ears some new adventure, especially the second one which provided the Australian duo’s noted number one a more relaxed mood.

She seems to be sending the message that she can handle every man’s voice with her recording of Elton John’s “Your Song,” the one that closes the album also comprising of engaging and unpredictable renditions of known hits like “I Will Survive” and “I’ll Never Love This Way Again.”

Amara shares, “I believe the key is being able to express yourself as an artist in your own right. It’s owning the song, not just singing it as how the original artist has sung it.”

As for the brewing competition among acoustic ladies in today’s stage, she dismisses the idea that she is out to beat her contemporaries. “Honestly,” she points out, “I don’t see it as a competition. I just need to do what I need to do let time and chance bring me wherever it could bring me. I just have to be the artist that I am.”

Other notable songs in “Acoustic Café” are “Almost Over You,” “Love Me For What I Am,” “I Honestly Love You” and “Time and Tide,” that hit from Basia which is another potential radio piece.

While being marketed as a cover artist at least for her debut CD, Amara is surprisingly a tunesmith who has published songs. She knows what a beautiful song from a songwriter’s standpoint and that contributed well to the album generally having melodic picks.

The visually pleasing act is well-experienced in lounge gigs and had stints in bands playing 60s and 70s stuff. She is hoping that listeners will find her album a good trip while having coffee with friends. For her it’s always being able to connect to people listening and making their day through her performance.

The choir girl, indeed, is now a grown angel singing and being heard on radio.