Rhianna Barr-Beaumont teaches Paula Abdul a few new moves on her shapeshifting, trippy new cover of Cold Hearted — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
The latest single from the Victoria, B.C. artist, Cold Hearted finds her putting a singular twist on Abdul’s 1988 dance-pop smash. Stripped down and with a greater emphasis on electronic accents, the rendition she’s come up with is an almost breezy take on the cautionary tale.
“I’ve known Cold Hearted since I was a teenager, and I’ve always been drawn to its powerful lyrics,” Barr-Beaumont says. “The song’s message of warning someone about a person who doesn’t have their best interests at heart stuck with me. It’s a strong, relatable theme that I felt needed to be reinterpreted with my own style.”
Not that she’s gotten too heavy with it: “I absolutely love this song because it’s pure pop,” she says. “It’s one of those guilty pleasures that just never gets old. There’s something timeless about its upbeat energy and catchy melody. It’s a song that instantly gets stuck in your head.”
An autistic artist, Barr-Beaumont’s diagnosis hasn’t been a roadblock in her path to musical achievement. Instead, it’s merely another aspect of her story. From Day 1, she’s used music as an expression of love, joy, heartbreak and gratitude, letting songs convey her feelings when she couldn’t find the words for what she was trying to communicate. “I believe music is a source of holistic healing for the mind, body and spirit,” she says. “From my earliest memory, music has been a constant source of joy in my life.”
And when she says “earliest,” she means it: She’s been singing since before she could talk. Now, she isn’t just a highly developed vocalist with a beautifully ethereal coloratura mezzo-soprano voice; she’s an all-in-one production machine who variously wears the hats of singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist.
Whether she’s laying down one of her original compositions or a cover of one of her favorite songs, Barr-Beaumont is constantly creating fresh arrangements with her arsenal of keyboards and digital music equipment. Working from the home she shares with her husband, she’s become adept at leveraging tools like piano sequencers, GarageBand and the workstation Reaper to capture the sounds she hears in her head. It’s a solitary process to be sure, but one that paradoxically allows her to connect with the world at large on a level not everyone gets to experience.
The way she sees it, reliability and routine are the key to building trust with an audience. Plus, they’re simply good for everybody’s mental health: She’s a firm believer that music is Vitamin H — Vitamin Harmony — and we all need a dose every day. Sounds like just what the doctor ordered.
Check out Cold Hearted above, hear more from Rhianna Barr-Beaumont above, and don’t play the fool on her website, Facebook and Instagram.
