Alela Diane “To Be Still” Review

Alela Diane has been a musician to watch over the past couple years. Her fantastic debut The Pirate’s Gospel was all but ignored upon its release but has steadily gained ground over the past two years to generate quite a buzz for the young singer/songwriter. Gospel‘s sparse, melancholy folk tunes recalled the anglo-celtic tradition of Appalachia, with Diane’s lovely voice supporting the weight of each tune from beginning to end.

Her sophomore effort To Be Still builds out on Diane’s repertoire with 11 new songs. The most marked departure is the building in of much more instrumentation into each track. Where Gospel was sparse and haunting, Still is more fleshed out with banjo, violin, pedal steel, and occasional backing vocals. Even with the more complex production, Diane still retains that individuality of the solo artist—the instrumentation is such that it delicately supports her voice without ever coming close to overwhelming it.

Fans of Diane’s 2007 Daytrotter Session will immediately recognize “White as Diamonds,” the highlight of that set (and indeed one of the highlights of 2007). Some absolutely lovely violin has been added, and with the superb production quality, Diane’s alto comes across as clear as a bell. I am less excited about the inclusion of drum beats, but even so, “Diamonds” is as exquisite as it ever was.

photo by Alissa Anderson

On “Age Old Blues” Diane is complimented by an undisclosed male vocal accompaniment, whose falsetto croons magnify the song’s hard luck story of hired hands working in the fields. More than most, this song brings to the fore Diane’s roots in blues as well as the folk music of early Irish immigrants. The track’s dark, pastoral imagery is nothing new to her songwriting, but Diane continues to create poignancy through an earnestness and intimacy that draws the listener into her world.

Title track “To Be Still” leans more to the country side of the spectrum, with pedal steel guitar winding its way through the tune. To match it Diane directs her voice in a slightly poppier direction with an upbeat tempo. Perhaps the loveliest of the new songs though is “Lady Divine” in which Diane showcases her warbling over a very simple guitar and bass accompaniment. The girl has pipes to be sure, and she shows them off with unexpected pitch changes, much like Joanna Newsom. No word yet on whether the song’s backing vocals are also Diane’s, but they sure sound like they are. Honestly I could probably gush about every song on this album, but for the sake of brevity I’ll just say that it is pretty much all fantastic.

Adela Diane “White As Diamonds” [MP3]

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Also: Alela Diane feat. Alina Hardin “Alela & Alina EP” Review