☭ marselip0910 叶俊华™

。初秋朝陽般的和煦氣息，Joanna Newsom之後最受矚目的迷幻民謠女聲
。The Decemberists、Iron & WIne傾心推薦，Pitchfork等傳媒徹底絕倒
。Nirvana、R.E.M.製作人坐鎮打造，令人怦然心動的溫潤嗓音直逼Adele

Alela Diane & Wild Divine - Third album from Portland, OR singer/songwriter moves beyond her earlier solo acoustic musings into a fuller, fleshed out -- and occasionally country/rock-tinted -- style...not too wild, actually, but with some pretty divine unvarnished moments //

Release: Alela Diane & Wild Divine (April 5, Rough Trade) //

Quote: "I didn't want to be held back...It became obvious to me that I didn't just want to do what I'd been doing. Some changes happened that felt like the right thing." //

Sounds like: Diane's looking to mix what she calls "the intimate" with the "gritty", a la, say, Neil Young...there's a more direct feel to the production -- the songs have more heft but the sound is actually more stark than her acoustic works //

What we like: the lovely blend of Diane's completely natural-sounding vocals with the delicate melody and acoustic picking behind "The Wind"...the sweet and tart, rough-hewn harmonies, raw guitar licks and forthright kick of "Long Way Down"...


1 To Begin


2 Elijah
3 Long Way Down
4 Suzanne
5 The Wind


6 Of Many Colors
7 Desire
8 Heartless Highway
9 White Horse
10 Rising Greatness



憶起Alela Diane於2006年以專輯《The Pirate’s Gospel》出道時的情景，多少令人憶起其同鄉唱作人Joanna Newsom；兩人皆出身音樂世家、皆來自加州內華達市，即使在音樂上亦呈現出某種惺惺相惜的情誼。然而，Joanna Newsom早已在樂壇上站穩了奇趣民謠一姊的地位，而Alela Diane雖然所受到的掌聲與關注是少了許多，但憑著兩年前優異的個人大碟《To Be Still》，讓她成功獲得BBC、Rough Trade以及Pitchfork壓倒性的讚賞，一夕成為近期最受矚目的唱作女聲之一。

原名Alela Diane Menig的Alela Diane，自小耳濡目染下喜歡上唱歌、並參加了學校的合唱團；對於音樂十分早慧的她，後來自習吉他、嘗試寫歌創作，20歲便已自資完成了個人首張唱片《Forest Parade》；隨後她的首張正式專輯《The Pirate’s Gospel》在英國受到了BBC、NME的高度肯定，第二張專輯《To Be Still》則獲英倫名廠Rough Trade延攬至旗下發行。闊別近兩年的新作《Alela Diane & Wild Divine》，是Alela Diane與夫婿Tom Bevitori的樂隊Wild Divine合作的結晶，Alela Diane的父親Tom Menig也特地擔任吉他伴奏，並邀來Nirvana、R.E.M.的知名製作人Scott Litt坐鎮。歌曲〈To Begin〉、〈Suzanne〉以及〈The Wind〉遊走於傳統美式風格與迷幻民謠之間，Alela Diane溫柔略帶世故的嗓音，直追Adele亦保有Vashti Bunyan、Jolie Holland等人的影子，既個性又能優美婉約、既知性又兼具感性的情緒轉折，非常難能可貴。