(2022) Alela Diane - Looking Glass    


Review:
We are shaped by the events in our lives, and for Alela Diane, one of those events was reading Lewis Carroll, whose book, Through the Looking Glass, helps evoke the two meanings of her new collection, Looking Glass. Initially, a looking glass was nothing more than a mirror, yet after the 1871 novel, it also became a term meaning “the opposite of what is normal or expected.” As Diane notes, “Looking Glass refers to both meanings. It is a portal to past and future, and a reflection on all that lies between.” The album was born in a September windstorm as historic wildfires swirled through the America’s west coast. Sitting down at the piano in her backyard, what began as a meditation on the disaster changed into a fever dream on the volatility of contemporary life. “Howling Wind” became the metaphor for examining the collective fears and sorrows of recent times. If we have been going through a great reckoning, as she points out, “These (are) days of uncertainty, of fragility, of war, of disease, of brutality, of grief, but also hope, beauty, and love. ‘Howling Wind’ is a song for that feeling, whatever you call it.” Finding shelter becomes a constant theme running through Looking Glass. One that plays out in “Dream a River.” A professed homebody, at the age of 19, her parents divorced, and the house she’d grown up in was sold. Sixteen years later, the house was up for sale again. On a trip to the old homestead in Nevada City, she found no one at home, but the front door was open, inviting her in. She entered to find her old memories. Using a soft-focus piano, the track plays out memories of a time thought to have been gone forever. She finds herself ‘a trespasser in the place she once called home.” Recalling her own brush with death during the birth of her daughter, “Camellia” spells out the “February bloom, February blood, Camellia.” Listening to the track it almost feels too personal, yet that chorus pulls you through with its beauty and love. It’s a point of demarcation where it becomes clear that despite events that are intensely personal, there are lessons we can all learn from them. While the piano of Diane may be sombre, Heather Woods Broderick’s flute provides a gorgeous counterpoint. Transforming moments from her life into songs that we can all relate to, Alela Diane’s Looking Glass reveals a songwriter whose depth is undeniable and whose performances create unforgettable memories. — folkradio


   


Track List:
01 - Paloma
02 - Howling Wind
03 - When We Believed
04 - Strawberry Moon
05 - Of Love
06 - All the Light
07 - Dream a River
08 - Camellia
09 - Moth in the Light
10 - Mother's Arms
11 - Another Dream


Media Report:
Genre: indie-folk
Country: USA
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits
Compression mode: Lossless
Writing library: libFLAC 1.2.1 (UTC 2007-09-17)


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