Aurelia: America

Rebecca Varidel
20th Jun 2018

Spirit becomes sound incarnate in Aurelia’s latest release ‘America’

Having amassed a trove of accolades, including Grammy nominations and U.S. Top 10 Billboard releases from her songwriting for other artists, it’s no mystery that her own work is quickly becoming required listening for ‘audiophiles’ and ‘feeling junkies’ alike.

The intersection of Fiona Apple boss lady musicianship and Enya’s celestial plane of sonic magnificence are the closest coordinates for referencing this solo offering from Aurelia. With a sound that is equal parts perennial nostalgia/cosmic effervescence, ‘America’ leaves the listener feeling as though their past and future selves are experiencing the track at the same time.

Aurelia recalls writing the song saying, “I was staying in a friends arts studio in L.A. at the time, and was mostly just trying not to join the 27 club… I remember waking up one morning surrounded by all the 1920’s Hollywood golden era charm in Koreatown, and I felt this strange sense of hope. I literally woke up, as the song says, on a bed with no sheets and watched it rain. This is the moment ‘America’ was born, and following that, the recording process of ‘America’ is what gave birth to the sound that I hear for my music, turns out that feeling I had was destiny”.

This record is all heart, and no chains… With a gospel choir break down nod to Madonna that sings “Cherish Life”, and a Golden Era Hollywood string outro, ‘America’ is a 4 minute and 34 second hyper speed journey through a lifetime of wonder, yearning, breaking, healing, believing, searching, discovering, triumphing and ultimately arriving at a point of deep existential gratitude. And grateful we are for this humble and majestic masterpiece that translates as somewhat of a sonic blueprint for Aurelia.

LISTEN HERE