Already known for dropping beats, No Southern Accent hopes to soon be dropping something else: its second studio album.
The UF a capella group announced its planned second album Friday, and that it needs help from fans to make the album a reality.
The fundraising efforts just started last week, said Fallon McKain, 22, a mechanical engineering senior major and NSA president.
Going forward, the group plans to fundraise and promote the album by singing to tailgaters on game days in the Fall and during the two concerts a year it hosts at the end of each semester.
The goal is $12,000 to mix, master and produce the album, McKain said. That total also takes into consideration getting the rights to use other artists’ songs. Donations can be made at nsaccent.com/cddonation/
Songs on the album include “Time” by Hans Zimmer, “Radioactive” by Imagine Dragons, “Separate Ways” by Journey and “Holy Grail” by Jay Z featuring Justin Timberlake to name a few, said Amanda Garrett, 20, a sophomore marketing major and NSA public relations director.
She said NSA has been using social media to promote the new album and sending letters out to family members and alumni.
It will also contain the sets performed at the International Championship of Collegiate A Capella South Quarterfinals in 2014, where the group placed first for the first time in UF history and was recognized for outstanding vocal percussion.
“We hope that our second album can grow to new heights, get our name out in the a capella community and make UF proud,” Garrett said.
NSA is working with Plaid Productions, who co-engineered six tracks for Fox’s “Glee” and has worked with several other a capella groups. A tentative release date is scheduled for the Fall, Garrett said.
When it’s ready, it will be available on iTunes, Spotify, Pandora and in hard copy, McKain said.
“I think the group has grown a lot since the first album and we have delved into different genres,” she said. “We are still doing the top 40s that traditional a capella groups do but we have progressed competitively and are a bigger name in the a capella world.”
NSA released its debut album in 2011 and was nominated for four Contemporary A Capella Recording Awards. It also had one song put on “Voices Only,” an album that encompasses the best of collegiate a capella all over the country.
This new effort differs from the debut album, “Group Therapy,” because there are new singers, newer songs, new arrangements and an overall new sound.
“We took more of a contemporary approach with more recognizable songs,” said Alex Greene, 23, a fifth-year materials science engineering student and the NSA music director from Fall 2012 to Spring 2014, who is tracking, arranging and producing the album. Tracking involves recording individual singers performing the tracks before they are later mixed together.
“It shows the evolution of the group over the last few years and shows that the group has gotten progressively better.”
[A version of this story ran on page 9 on 7/24/2014 under the headline "UF a capella group at work on second album"]
The new album will include the sets No Southern Accent performed at the International Championship of Collegiate A Capella South Quarterfinals in 2014, where it placed first for the first time in UF history. The album will also have Top 40 hits by Jay Z and others.
No Southern Accent’s second studio album is slated for release during the Fall semester. The group is trying to raise $12,000 from fundraising events and fans to cover production and royalty costs.
