A UF a cappella group is releasing its second studio album.
No Southern Accent will release “Good to the Last Drop” on Friday on iTunes, Spotify and Loudr, a website where artists sell song covers, said Eion Blanchard, the group’s public relations director. Songs will include “Say Something” by A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera, “Leave My Body” by Florence and the Machine and “Holy Grail” by Jay Z feat. Justin Timberlake.
The group, founded in 2001, released one other album in April 2011. The new album will have a greater variety of songs, said Blanchard, a UF mathematics sophomore.
“We just have a really good mix of genres,” the 19-year-old said. “Everyone will find a song that they like.”
He said exact costs are still being worked out, but the album will sell for less than $10. Producing it cost slightly more than $9,000 and was made possible by private performances and donations from fans.
“This album is not for us to make a profit,” he said. “It’s mostly just to share our music with our fans.”
Blanchard said the covers will encompass rhythm and blues, pop and electronic music. The group performed the songs on the album at past International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella competitions.
Their 2011 album, “Group Therapy,” was nominated for four Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards. He said he hopes the album is nominated for more awards and wins this time around.
Blanchard said the new album gives students who can’t make it to their concerts a chance to listen to the group.
“These are dynamic works of music that people you see around campus are actively making and pour their souls into,” he said. “It’s definitely a very personal work of art.”
Ilana Sterling, a UF advertising sophomore, said she first heard about No Southern Accent at Preview.
“My mom thinks that I’m a good singer, so she wanted me to audition for it,” the 20-year-old said. “I told them I only like singing in the shower.”
Although she’s not a part of the group, she said she goes to every No Southern Accent concert to support friends who are.
“I’m an a cappella groupie now,” she said. “It literally gives me the chills sitting in the audience.”
Sterling said she hasn’t listened to the group’s first album because she never met the performers who recorded that album.
“I’m excited for this one coming up because I actually know the people in the group now,” she said. “To make such a great sound only using their voices is just crazy.”
