America

Description

Stein formed Howling Bells with her brother, Joel, and friends when they moved to London together in 2004. Four acclaimed albums followed, along with headline tours and festival shows around the world, and huge support dates including several US tours with Coldplay and The Killers. A break from Howling Bells around the arrival of her first child saw the first shoots of her solo work start to emerge, and now we find ourselves here. America, an unpredictable place, forever bound up in a uniquely widescreen hope and romance. An evocative and beautiful record (produced by Gus Seyffert (Beck, Ryan Adams) in L.A.), Steins honeyed voice weaves stories of heartbreak and optimism, from the unmistakably Western-influenced Dark Horse, to the moody love song, Cry. Florence is inspired by a real-life photograph by Dorothea Langue, taken during the Great Depression, of the eponymous Florence Owens Thompson, a tale of a struggle for themselves and their children thats as relevant to women of the world today as it ever was. The songs on the LP tell tales of characters real and imagined, Steins own experiences woven amongst them.
Says Stein of the album: This record is an ode to the dark heart of America. Of times gone and times to come. Dusty trails, a whimsical 50s suburbia and the haze of the 1960s. Ive forever idealised American life growing up in Australia we were fed the American dream through film and television. The dichotomy between what was real and a dream is forever intriguing to me. The music of Roy Orbison, Dusty Springfield, Lee and Nancy and Patsy Cline all informed my musical sensibilities. They opened up this wide screen universe for me.

A lovingly crafted paean to Americana of all stripes, from Southern Gothic country to swooning Lynchian moods. Steins silky voice has long deserved arrangements as sumptuous. Mojo, Q

Its the voice that grabs you A wonderfully lucid piece of songwriting, emotion lingering on each note CLASH