When I look back on the different seasons every year, there is always an artist/album or two that I listen to that becomes my quintissential album for that point in time. Everything about Alela Diane's new album makes it the perfect winter album - her soothing voice and the folk/americana sound of her music as a whole could warm up anyone during the end of these cold months.
To Be Still, Alela Diane's latest album, is the perfect "relaxing" album, the kind of thing you listen to, imagining that you're in the countryside, snowed in, drinking hot cider. Alela Diane has one of the most unique voices I've heard in music today; the sturdy subtlety in her voice is soulful without being dominating, and is gently coaxed by the acoustic, light sounds of the music.
Another thing I enjoy about
Still is that this is no neo-folk/sub-genre/generic indie music that you'll hear, which is good, as, let's be honest - that gets boring after a while. This is traditional folk, all the way down to the meditative lyrics, which primarily talk about nature and human feelings. Overall,
Still leaves its listener warm; which is perfect while we hold out for the last month or so of winter.
Still is available now, and Alela will be touring over the next couple of months. Want to listen? Her myspace is
www.myspace.com/alelamusic. So far, my favorite song is Dry Grass and Shadows, the same song that was the free download on iTunes a couple of weeks back.
Here's her tour schedule in the U.S. (as gotten from her MySpace):
| | Holocene CD release show! w/ homeboy Aaron Ross! | PORTLAND, Oregon |
| | First Avenue w/ Blitzen Trapper(venue changed) | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| | The Empty Bottle - EARLY SHOW! | Chicago, Illinois |
| | Empty Bottle-SOLD OUT | Chicago, Illinois |
| | Magic Stick w/ Blitzen Trapper | Detroit, Michigan |
| | Horseshoe Tavern w/ Blitzen Trapper | Toronto |
| | La Sala Rossa w/ Blitzen Trapper | Montreal |
| | Bug Jar w/ Blitzen Trapper | Rochester, New York |
| | Pearl Street Nightclub w/ Blitzen Trapper | Northampton, Massachusetts |
| | Paradise w/ Blitzen Trapper | Boston, Massachusetts |
| | Bowery Ballroom - SOLD OUT | New York, New York |
| | Music Hall of Williamsburg w/ Blitzen Trapper | Brooklyn, New York |
| | First Unitarian Church w/ Blitzen Trapper | philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| | Black Cat w/ Blitzen Trapper | washington DC, Washington DC |
| | 40 Watt Club w/ Blitzen Trapper | Athens, Georgia |
| | Orange Peel w/ Blitzen Trapper | Asheville, North Carolina |
| | Mercy Lounge w/ Blitzen Trapper | Nashville, Tennessee |
| | The Bottletree w/ Blitzen Trapper | Birmingham, Alabama |
| | Hi-Tone Cafe w/ Blitzen Trapper | Memphis, Tennessee |
| | The Opolis w/ Blitzen Trapper | Norman, Oklahoma |
| | Jackpot Saloon w/ Blitzen Trapper | Lawrence, Kansas |
| | Hi Dive w/ Blitzen Trapper | Denver, Colorado |
| | Kilby Court w/ Blitzen Trapper | Salt Lake City, Utah |
| | Hotel Cafe | Los Angeles, California |
I would like to say that I'm going to Pearl Street, but I highly doubt I'll be able to get there, sadly. HOWEVER! I know that I'm either going to of Montreal or Elvis Perkins in April (yay!), so there will be some type of posting to ensue at that time.
