RyanDan - RyanDan

“Overseas, the pop-classical movement steams ahead, with acts like Andrea Bocelli, Il Divo and Three Graces consistently topping album charts. Comely Canadian-based identical twins Ryan and Dan Kowarsky have already hit the top 10 at home, and now their sights are set on the United States. Opener “Like the Sun” sets the stage, with abundant vocal bravado and a melodramatic torrent of orchestral strings. More restrained “The Face” is utterly luscious, as is a sweetly reinvented cover of “I’ll Be There,” the poppiest offering here, and stirring finale “Tears of an Angel,” which the boys wrote about the passing of their young niece. Producer Steve Anderson, known for his work with Kylie Minogue and Paul McCartney, indulges the genre to a “T,” but brings enough mainstream sensibility to potentially seduce millions of Josh Groban fans who still put up cash to buy music. —Chuck Taylor”

Hilary McRae - Through These Walls

“Twenty-one-year-old singer/songwriter Hilary McRae has scored the distinction of being the first emerging artist signed to Hear Music, the Starbucks Entertainment/Concord Music Group label that launched last year with high-profile releases from Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell and James Taylor. It’s not hard to appreciate why she’s been singled out. McRae’s strong, unaffected alto belies her young age, and her pop/R&B hybrid has roots that stretch back before her birth. Her debut opens with the memorable “Every Day (When Will You Be Mine),” followed by 11 tracks that delve into love’s highs and lows without much poetry. But the music has power and soul, made all the more uplifting by Charles Calello’s rich horn arrangements that instantly recall early Chicago.—Evie Nagy”