Laurie Levine's third album, Six Winters, has just been released. Laurie's blend of American roots music and the ‘Nu-Folk’ sound has earned her critical acclaim and a growing audience.She has twice been nominated for a SAMA (South African Music Award) in the Adult Contemporary category and she has just returned from the Grahamstown Arts Festival with a Standard Bank Silver Ovation Award for her performances there.
Dan Roberts, who worked with Laurie on her previous album, found a balance between a contemporary sound and Laurie`s love of folk music. Dan speaks about the way they found the ‘voice’ of the album: “Laurie arrived with a selection of songs that had taken her writing to a new level, more exposed and lyrically the strongest set I've heard from her so far. There's a lot of pain there, but extraordinary beauty too. Laurie had also been listening to some old sounds, early dust bowl depression era and such, but at the same time we both love contemporary electronica, so we settled on what can be best described as a 'the future is yesterday' approach. We put together a string ensemble: violin, cello, mandolin, banjo, baritone guitar, junk shop autoharps, accordion and piano and threw that into the ring with, what is known in the trade as 'retro electronica beats' - added some real percussion and ended up with a kind of Appalachian - loop station approach. There's a pulse there, but a delicacy too. I'm really happy with where we ended up and I hope it gets the airing it deserves."
The songs on Six Winters were created in a deeply personal space and the album was written over the length of a year. Laurie comments on the writing process: “A lot of the songs came to me in pieces that were put together and completed over a period of time. A song is only finished when it is ready and often it takes you by the hand and leads you to its completion. The process is mysterious and hard to grasp, but you have to let the song speak its truth."
Laurie will introduce the album at official CD Launches in Durban, Cape Town, Pretoria and Johannesburg:
Durban: Friday 12 August: Bluestockings, Kloof (Media and Public)
Cape Town: Friday 19 August: Gatta Patat, Cape Diamond Hotel (Public Launch)
Pretoria: Friday 9 September: Pandora Arthouse (Media and Public)
Johannesburg: Thursday 22 September: The Alexander Theatre, Braamfontein (Media and Public)
Also check out www.laurielevine.co.za and http://www.facebook.com/pages/Laurie-Levine/10349244047 .
No comments:
Post a Comment