Cusp

Description

One of the experiences that transforms a woman the most also turns out to be a taboo among musicians: she can become a mother if she wants, but especially, she shouldn't talk about it in her songs. Alela Diane, the critically acclaimed singer-songwriter, firmly opposes this injunction. "These songs are about motherhood," Alela explains about her fifth album, the highly anticipated Cusp. "Just saying that makes me afraid of being discredited. It's as if you've suddenly lost the charm of youth. There isn't really a place in the music industry for thirty-somethings who are also moms." She laughs as she pauses, before adding, "Maybe we can create that space." If anyone can conquer this new territory, it's Alela. Cusp is indeed a thematic shift for the artist, but it retains the precise writing and crystalline voice that have already captivated Pitchfork, NME, Paste, as well as many fans in Europe and around the world. This new album, consisting of 11 tracks, was born in January 2016, during the three weeks Alela spent in residence at Caldera, in Oregon. This period was a true revelation for the Portland-based artist, who had been completely absorbed by her two-year-old daughter. In a small cabin deep in the snowy woods of Caldera, she finds herself alone for the first time since becoming a mother, with only a wood stove for company. She makes soup, rediscovers how to manage on her own... and writes songs. "I simply found myself again, and I re-learned how to take care of myself," she says. "It was really a chance to stimulate my creative side and reflect on the intensity of what I had gone through in becoming a mother - all in a space that was mine." At the beginning of her stay at Caldera, Alela breaks her thumb nail while shoveling snow, making fingerpicking, which made her famous, difficult. Noticing a grand piano in the main lodge, she decides to settle there to compose. The result is the most piano-driven album of her career, fueled by an energy that allows her to embrace the newness and even fall in love with it. "It was really different," Alela says about composing on the piano, whose keys highlight the chords in a way that the guitar does not. "It was extremely liberating to step out of my guitar writing habits." Alela records Cusp largely at Flora Playback and Recording while she is expecting her second daughter, born in February 2017. Produced by Peter M. Murray and mixed by Noah Georgeson, the album includes contributions from talents such as Ryan Francesconi (Joanna Newsom), Rob Burger (Iron & Wine), Peter Broderick, Heather Woods Broderick (Sharon Van Etten), Luke Ydstie (Blind Pilot), and Daniel Hunt (Neko Case). With "Albatross," the first track of the album, she sings about the pain of leaving her daughter during a promotional tour - a pain she had never known before. "The chorus evokes a flight abroad and having to leave my child at home," she explains. The magnificent "Move Us Blind" explores our complicated relationship with time, while "Buoyant" - which Alela says she was "surprised" by - is rich with the vivid imagery her fans are accustomed to. "Song for Sandy" was written for British singer Sandy Denny, who passed away shortly after the birth of her daughter. Disturbed by the drowning of the Syrian child washed up on a Turkish beach, Alela wrote the haunting "Emigré," in response to the international refugee crisis. The gloomy "Never Easy" addresses Alela's complex relationship with her own mother, a recurring theme in her albums.