Over the past year, Alela Diane has finished recording and mixing her new album, About Farewell which will be issued by her own Rusted Blue label June 23 (digitally) followed by a physical release on July 30. It serves as an eloquent goodbye to lovers from years past, coupled with some poignant last walks down memory lane. While the lyrics deal most directly with her recent divorce, the album explores her entire last decade of relationships with honesty and nuanced insight.
One of the benefits of putting out records on your own label is having complete creative control. So after ditched her Wild Divine band, Alela built the entire album around her singing and economical guitar picking, wisely making her beguiling voice the center of attention. Since there was no one around saying, "Umm... we can't hear a single. Can you go back and have another crack at it?"we get to hear Alela's new songs on About Farewell as she intended them to be heard.
Much of About Farewell was recorded with producer John Askew at Portland's Flora Recording Studios during late 2011 and early 2012 with the help of her talented friends, namely Heather Broderick (see Horse Feathers, Efterklang) arranging and playing piano and flute, Holcombe Waller arranging strings, and Neal Morgan on drums.
These pared-down folk songs are perfectly suited to Alela's incredible voice. If you've got pipes like hers, any sort of instrumental ornamentation is just a distraction. Getting rid of the clutter is the best move she could've made at this point and About Farewell is all the better for it. Check out the clip for Lost Land shot inside the historic 19th century Parisian opera house Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord.
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