AcaBellas Release New Album, “Metamorphosis”

Kat Neilan, Contributor

Are you looking for new music to listen to? Check out Central Connecticut State University’s all-female acapella group, “The AcaBellas,” new album Metamorphosis. The album was released this past August and is available now on all music streaming services.

The album comprises ten tracks, and 6 of them are dedicated to the graduating 2020 and 2021 members’ senior songs. Unfortunately, the graduates were unable to perform their songs live due to the Corona Virus; as a result, the idea to create an album showcasing them came to be.

Music director Maeve Maltese said she wanted to honor the seniors of “The Acabellas” in a unique way.

“When COVID hit, we were unable to do concerts anymore,” she said. “We thought it would be a great opportunity to use these songs that we had already arranged for the group and these graduating members and to showcase them in a really special way,” Maltese said.

The graduating members had complete control over what song they got to sing, the choreography they wanted to include, and who else they wanted on the track, Maltese said. So this album was the senior’s “going away present” from the group.

Some of the senior songs featured on the album include “Pray” by Sam Smith, “God is a Woman” by Ariana Grande, and “Rollercoaster” by the Jonas Brothers.

The remaining four songs are from The AcaBellas 2020 International Championship of Collegiate Acappella (ICCA) set. They were initially supposed to be released after the performance in 2020, but the group decided to halt the release due to the pandemic.

Metamorphosis is “The AcaBella’s” first official album to ever be released. Metamorphosis’s album name means transformation and represents what the group has gone through the last two years regarding their performance standards.

The artistic director, Lexie Tudisca, said that these four songs were recorded and put together by a vocal production company.

Tudsica said that each song took months to record due to the girls having to record their parts individually and mix and master each of those parts into each other.

“I think we have enhanced our standards in terms of how we perform as a group,” Tudisca said. “Our expectations of ourselves as a whole have gotten greater,” she said.

Maltese said the album embodies the group’s dedication and passion for singing. The group is excited to see what the future holds for them and urges CCSU students to listen to their album.

Metamorphosis is about us turning into that more powerful group,” she said. “We’re all women who love to sing and love to lean on each other to reach our goals and hope listeners can see that in the album,” Maltese said.