Lael Neale has announced her new album Star Eaters Delight and released the first track from it ‘I Am The River’. It’s a propulsive, 100 meter sprint of a track which still retains the stripped down arrangement that made her 2021 album Acquainted With Night so captivating.
There’s a simple drum pattern driving the song and the ever present Omnichord that runs like a spine through Neale’s songs. There are not many people who can deliver a mostly-monotone tune and make it work but this is compelling and audacious especially as it’s the guitar which shifts around and creates harmonies with the tune.
If ‘I Am The River’ is a foretaste of the new album then we’re in a for a treat when Star Eaters Delight is released on 21st April. It can be pre-ordered via Bandcamp, the Sub Pop label or all good UK record shops.
Lael Neale socials: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Bandcamp
Lyrics:
I am the river
I carry men down
I see no rejects
No one to keep out
Tell me your dreams
How long could you keep them?
This is an Ice Age
And I have frozen
I pledge allegiance
To tree and meadow
I have no need to
conquer or keep them
I’m for the ocean
Where we will all end
Let us have music
While we are moving
I hear the bells of
The country churches
I have my sadness
And that is sacred
There is no feedback
Electric static
Let us keep moving
Let us keep moving
Remember dancing
Remember magic
We are together
I am the river
Review by Paul F Cook
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