Move over Il Divo, RyanDan is here ... The classical/pop-leaning stars’ new album of material is in stores now.

Ryan and Dan Kowarsky were recognized earlier this decade for their polished, glossy pop sounds in B4-4. However, unlike groups such as the Backstreet Boys who still continue to milk that sound dry, the identical twins' new outfit RyanDan and album of the same name is musically the polar opposite of prior efforts.

"I think it's different from what we did, which was more pop sound, more 'boy band-y' kind of sound," Dan Kowarsky says with brother Ryan next to him. "At the time, as good as it was, it was frustrating to us because we were playing for a much younger audience and their focus would be on our hair or our clothes. There was nothing about the music, nothing about songwriting."

OVERSEAS SENSATION

The brothers, originally from Thornhill, Ont., were Canadian teen idols as B4-4, before boy-band brainchild Lou Pearlman brought the group to Germany, signing it to a label there and making it an overseas sensation.

But by the time the group was about to hit a Los Angeles studio for another album, Ryan and Dan had enough, choosing instead to move to England to work with producer Steve Anderson on new material as RyanDan.

The new album, which came out Tuesday, has much more in common with classical/pop-leaning stars such as Il Divo or British sensation Paul Potts than NSYNC. Tracks include several orchestral, cinematic covers such as Bette Midler's Wind Beneath My Wings and The Jackson 5's I'll Be There.

The duo recorded roughly 50 demos before whittling material down to 13 tracks. But while Ryan and Dyan enjoyed the recording process, they're particularly fond of the track The Prayer, a song made famous by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli.

"We found out that our mom had Parkinson's disease," Ryan says. "We didn't know anything about Parkinson's disease at the time and started looking into it. And it scared us to be honest because we didn't know what was going to happen and how fast it was going to progress. We flew back to our mom and stopped doing music for about two months."

"She felt very guilty that we stopped doing everything for her," Dan continues. "So she really pushed us to get back into the studio. She has an all-time favourite song, which is The Prayer, so we wanted to surprise her. We recorded it for her, woke her up about two in the morning and played it for her. She was just bawling her eyes out."

Although the album was recorded in London, and at times with a 62-piece orchestra accompanying them, Ryan and Dan also had some equipment perks. The pair sang into a studio microphone Frank Sinatra crooned into and worked with a mixing board that The Beatles and The Rolling Stones once used.

"With that kind of equipment, compared to some of the new digital equipment that they use, there's a much warmer sound in that older equipment that you can't get in the newer stuff," Ryan says.

And unlike bands who have to nix studio sessions if the lead singer's voice is shot, RyanDan can always substitute for each other should laryngitis set in.

IDENTICAL VOICES

"We have identical voices," Ryan says. "Being twins is great because if we were going to sing something a cappella on stage we know what key we're going to start the song in, we don't have to discuss it, we just know."

The album was released earlier this year in various European regions as well as Southeast Asia, including reaching the top five on Hong Kong charts. The twins also plan on launching a world tour early next year, but no dates have been announced as yet.

But despite the fans they may have globally, both Ryan and Dan say their parents (the father an opera singer) are their biggest fans. And critics.

"They want to see every single interview and read everything," Ryan says. "My mom is collecting articles, while my dad, with his music and singing, critiques everything. He makes sure we're doing things the right way and properly."

Source: Winnipeg Sun