It should be no surprise that shortly after releasing the fantastic To Be Still Alela Diane already has an EP in the pipeline, after all, her debut record was recorded at least three years before it was picked up by Rough Trade for official release this year. Now she and California singer Alina Hardin (whom I believe was the waif with the golden voice who was on tour with Diane earlier this year) are releasing Alela & Alina, a stripped down collection of new and old folk songs. The big surprise isn’t that it is good, it’s that it is actually good enough to rival the strongest work on To Be Still. All three of the EP’s original tracks, “I Have Returned,” “Amidst the Movement,” and “Crying Wolf” are pure loveliness, shrugging off the fuller instrumentation of To Be Still and leaving only raw emotion over an acoustic guitar. “Returned” is particularly spellbinding, with Hardin and Diane’s ethereal voices intertwining magically over the chorus, “You never know how the wind will blow/and you never know whose going with it when it goes.” It’s all yearning and melancholy, made convincing by the earnestness and purity of the young ladies’ voices. The EP also features three excellent covers. “Bowling Green” was originally made famous by folk legends the Weavers, and takes on an extra mournful edge in Diane and Hardin’s treatment. “Matty Groves,” is a 17th Century standard—a woeful tale of adultery straight out of the Highlands. Lastly the ladies round out the EP with a heartbreaking rendition of Townes Van Zandt’s “The Rake.” Diane and Hardin will likely be performing many of these tunes (as well as material from Diane’s first two solo records) on November 18th at the 7th St. Entry when their National tour stops there his fall. The excellent Marissa Nadler will be playing as well, making this a must-not-miss event.

Alela Diane: Official | MySpace | Wikipedia
Alina Hardin: MySpace

Also: Alela Diane “To Be Still” Review