"Do you get my drift on the type of song - it sort of cruises along, you can feel the tension building, and then it soars off and demands quite a range?"

Hmm. I'm not a muso, so these thoughts might not be accurate, But hey ho: Seems to me what you're after is a *modern arrangement* of a trad. song which has a wide range built into the original melody - but the modern arrangement adjusts the dynamics? Take this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uNn2TDDru0 which I copied pretty much straight off a year ago. It's actually got more range in it than the steady plodding rythm and gently gently arrangement would imply. I could imagine this same song done with a different arrangement and resultant totally adjusted 'souring' dynamics from the vocalist. I mean, what would Bonny Tyler or Elaine Page do with it?