Lael Neale – Altogether Stranger

Lael Nealesminimalist drone pop draws inspiration from the Transcendentalists, the alienation of modern life, and a rich array of musical influencesranging from Dionne Warwick and John Lennon to primitive American gospel and Spacemen 3.

Her expansive new record, Altogether Stranger, was written and recorded in the early morning quiet of Los Angeles. Clocking in at just 32 minutes, the 9-song LP covers an unexpected breadth of musical and lyrical terrainfrom garage rock nursery rhymes and creation myths to Motorik dance dirges and solitary Omnichord meditations.

A brilliant lyricist, Neale has a unique ability to uncover the extraordinary within the mundane, tackling themes of polarity that recur throughout her workcountry vs. city, humanity vs. technology, isolation vs. society. This album is her third collaboration with producer Guy Blakeslee who helps expand the tonal palette while staying true to Neales commitment to the raw immediacy and hand-made intimacy of home recording.

Altogether Stranger – a stunning album filled with dreamlike reverie, Neales crystalline voice, and echoes of the Velvet Underground – was conceived after four years of oscillating between rural solitude and urban chaos. It finds Neale perched at the piano in a hilltop bungalow, looking down on a rare curve of Sunset Blvd. Here, in this daily ritual of writing, singing, and paintingwhat David Lynch referred to as the Art Lifeshe creates the space for her most adventurous work to date.

Los Angeles is not just the backdrop of Altogether Stranger but a lead character. The albums accompanying film – created with Neale’s faithful Sony Handycam – builds on her ongoing series of videos, telling the story of Neale as an alien in a suit of mirrors stranded on Earth. Wandering through modern-day LA, she finds both absurdity and beauty in our fragile, untenable way of life.

Altogether Stranger represents an ambitious breakthrough for this singular, self-sufficient artist.

Available on on limited ‘Loser Edition’ Lavender coloured vinyl & CD.

Tracklist:
01. Wild Waters
02. All Good Things Will Come To Pass
03. Down On The Freeway
04. Sleep Through The Long Night
05. Come On
06. Tell Me How To Be Here
07. New Age
08. All Is Never Lost
09. There From Here