Lael Neale - Altogether Stranger

Lael Neale Altogether Stranger Label Sub Pop Erstveröffentlichung 02.05.2025 Format CD Lieferzeit 1 – 3 Werktage Preis 14,95 € (inkl. MwSt. zzgl. Versand)

Ihr viertes Album (das dritte bei Sub Pop) ist erneut ein eigentümliches Hybrid aus Indie, US-Folk und einem kleinen bisschen Postpunk. Lael Neale hat eine tolle Stimme: kristallklar, glockenhell und sehr präsent, vage folkgeschult mit einem kleinen Hauch junger Joan Baez. Obwohl sie ein Omnichord bedient, ist ihre Musik aber doch recht modern, zumindest aus der Zeit gefallen. Teils mit Orgelsound und Beatbox instrumentiert, nur selten mit Bass oder Gitarre, ergibt sich ein stoischer, breakfreier Flow von gradliniger Stoik. So kann man besser auf die Texte hören, sich aber auch vom surrealen Vibe einfangen lassen, der in einzelnen Songs vage postpunkig ausfällt und teils einen sanften Drone entwickelt. Die Wahl-Kalifornierin aus Virginia gibt sich einerseits als so eine Art Enkelin von Folk-Ikonen wie Judy Collins und Vashti Bunyan, zielt andererseits musikalisch aber über den altmodischen Trad.-Folk hinaus, auch wenn gegen Albumende dann doch klassische Songstrukturen überwiegen. (Joe Whirlypop)

Lael Neale's minimalist drone pop draws inspiration from the Transcendentalists, the alienation of modern life, and a rich array of musical influences-ranging from Dionne Warwick and John Lennon to primitive American gospel and Spacemen 3. Her expansive new record, Altogether Stranger, due May 2, was written and recorded in the early morning quiet of Los Angeles. Clocking in at just 32 minutes, the 9-song LP covers an unexpected breadth of musical and lyrical terrain-from garage rock nursery rhymes and creation myths to Motorik dance dirges and solitary Omnichord meditations. A brilliant lyricist, Neale has a unique ability to uncover the extraordinary within the mundane, tackling themes of polarity that recur throughout her work-country vs. city, humanity vs. technology, isolation vs. society. This album is her third collaboration with producer Guy Blakeslee who helps expand the tonal palette while staying true to Neale's commitment to the raw immediacy and hand-made intimacy of home recording. Altogether Stranger - a stunning album filled with dreamlike reverie, Neale's crystalline voice, and echoes of the Velvet Underground - was conceived after four years of oscillating between rural solitude and urban chaos. It finds Neale perched at the piano in a hilltop bungalow, looking down on a rare curve of Sunset Blvd. Here, in this daily ritual of writing, singing, and painting-what David Lynch referred to as "the Art Life"-she creates the space for her most adventurous work to date. Born and raised in Virginia's idyllic countryside, Neale brought the high-lonesome sound of her home state with her when she moved to California to pursue music. After years of writing songs on guitar and playing small venues in Los Angeles, she discovered the Omnichord in 2019, which sparked a new creative direction. This led to her 2021 Sub Pop debut album, Acquainted With Night. That album's 2023 follow-up, Star Eaters Delight, deepened the collaboration with Blakeslee, infusing minimalist soundscapes with a heightened electric energy. The album found a devoted audience, and Neale's subsequent tour included sold-out shows in Los Angeles, New York City, London, and Paris, multiple trips across Europe, and a West Coast run supporting kindred spirit Weyes Blood. This marked yet another return to Los Angeles. Indeed, Los Angeles is not just the backdrop of Altogether Stranger but a lead character. The album's accompanying film - created with Neale's faithful Sony Handycam - builds on her ongoing series of videos, telling the story of Neale as an alien in a suit of mirrors stranded on Earth. Wandering through modern-day LA, she finds both absurdity and beauty in our fragile, untenable way of life. Over the long year it took to write Altogether Stranger, Neale vacillated between childlike optimism and existential melancholy. While she may not have been able to reconcile these opposing states, Altogether Stranger represents an ambitious breakthrough for this singular, self-sufficient artist.

Herstellerinformationen
Sub Pop Records
2013 Fourth Avenue Third Floor
Seattle, WA, 98121
USA

https://www.subpop.com/

Verantwortlich
375 Media GmbH
Schlachthofstr. 36a
21079 Hamburg
Germany

375media.com

Lael Neale LP Altogether Stranger (Magenta Bio Vinyl) 25,95 €

Lael Neale CD Star Eaters Delight 14,95 €

Lael Neale LP Star Eaters Delight (Gold Vinyl) 21,95 €

Lael Neale CD Acquainted With Night 13,95 €

Lael Neale LP Acquainted With Night 22,95 €