{"title":"Lael Neale","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLael Neale is a singer\/songwriter originally from Virginia, currently residing in California. With her unique blend of folk and indie pop, she captivates audiences with her heartfelt lyrics and soulful melodies. Her music reflects her personal experiences and emotions, creating an intimate connection with listeners. Lael's powerful vocals and poetic storytelling make her a rising star in the music industry.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHaving honed her craft through years of performing in local venues, Lael has developed a distinct sound that sets her apart from other artists. Her songs are filled with raw emotion and vulnerability, allowing listeners to relate to her on a deep level. Whether she's singing about love, loss, or self-discovery, Lael's authenticity shines through in every note.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn addition to her musical talents, Lael is also known for her captivating live performances. She effortlessly commands the stage with her mesmerizing presence and infectious energy. Audiences are drawn into the world she creates on stage, leaving them wanting more.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"star-eaters-delight","title":"Star Eaters Delight","description":"\u003cp\u003eNew, self-recorded album by LA\/Virginia artist \u003cstrong\u003eLael Neale\u003c\/strong\u003e explores themes of transcendentalism, the polarities of nature and civilization, and healing via minimalist pop ala the Velvet Underground.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLael Neale\u003c\/strong\u003e still has a flip phone and there were no screens involved in the creation of her new record \u003cem\u003eStar Eaters Delight\u003c\/em\u003e. The album is her second for Sub Pop and reveals an expansion of her sonic collaboration with producer and accompanist Guy Blakeslee.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn April of 2020, in the wake of transformations both personal and global, \u003cstrong\u003eLael\u003c\/strong\u003e moved from Los Angeles back to her family’s farm in rural Virginia. Looking at the world from a distance and getting in tune with her own rhythms, she wrote and recorded steadily for two dreamlike years, driven by a need to make order out of chaos.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eForged in isolation, \u003cem\u003eStar Eaters Delight\u003c\/em\u003e is a vehicle for returning, not just to civilization, but to celebration. \u003cstrong\u003eLael\u003c\/strong\u003e says, “\u003cem\u003eAcquainted with Night\u003c\/em\u003e” (recorded in 2019, and released in 2021), was focused inward, amidst the loud and bright Los Angeles surrounding me. It was an attempt to create spaciousness and quiet reverie within. When I moved back to the farm, I found that the unbroken silences compelled me to break them with sound. This album is more external. It is me reaching back out to the world, wanting to feel connected, to wake up, to come together again.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAlbum opener and lead single “\u003cem\u003eI Am The River\u003c\/em\u003e” melts the ice with a dynamic explosion of minimalist transcendental pop clearly descended from the Velvet Underground’s branch of modern music’s family tree. Blakeslee’s spare yet cinematic arrangements create an ambient space in which \u003cstrong\u003eNeale’s\u003c\/strong\u003e clear and unaffected voice can explore familiar themes in an unexpected way.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSubtle but potent references to Shakespeare, Emerson and the Bible (which she hasn’t read) swirl together with deeply personal musings and touches of wry humor, always more optimistic than cynical. While this is a record about polarities- country vs. city, humanity vs. technology, solitude vs. relationship - the deeper intention is to heal; to come to terms with our differences and put the broken pieces back together again.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLael’s\u003c\/strong\u003e affinity with the Transcendentalists has to do with her quest to hold onto sovereignty over her own mind. In a time when our devices are constantly flooding us with information, opinions and propaganda, \u003cstrong\u003eLael\u003c\/strong\u003e is intentional about what she takes in - hence the flip phone and the cassette recorder. Neale identifies as a minimalist “not because I don’t like things, but because I value freedom more.”\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sub Pop","offers":[{"title":"Tape","offer_id":50447950250315,"sku":"2009196","price":8.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50447949693259,"sku":"2009195","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50447951102283,"sku":"2009197","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/LaelNeale_StarEatersDelight_900px_1_65311a70_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727084466"},{"product_id":"acquainted-with-night","title":"Acquainted with Night","description":"\u003cp\u003eLael’s new album \u003ci\u003eAcquainted With Night\u003c\/i\u003e is a testament to this poetic devotion. Stripped of any extraneous word or sound, the songs are lit by Lael’s crystalline voice which lays on a lush bed of Omnichord. The collection touches on themes that have been thread into her work for years: isolation, mortality, yearning, and reaching ever toward the transcendent experience.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLael grew up on a farm in rural Virginia, but for nearly 10 years called Los Angeles home. Those years were spent developing her songwriting and performing in venues across the city, but the right way to record the songs proved more elusive. She says, “Every time I reached the end of recording, I felt the songs had been stripped of their vitality in the process of layering drums, bass, guitar, violin, and organ over them. They felt weighed down.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn a moment of illumination the solution presented itself: do the simple thing. In early 2019, in the midst of major transition, she acquired a new instrument, the omnichord, and began recording a deluge of songs. Guy Blakeslee, who had been an advocate for years, set up a cassette recorder in her bedroom and provided empathic guidance, subtle yet affecting accompaniment and engineering prowess. Limited to only 4-tracks and first takes, Lael had to surrender some of her perfectionism to deliver the songs in their essence. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhile Lael returned to her family farm in April 2020, Los Angeles is a player on this album, and “Every Star Shivers in the Dark” is an ode to the sprawling city, the outskirts of Eden. One can envision her walking from Dodgers Stadium to downtown, observing strangers and her own strangeness but determined to find communion with others. “Blue Vein” is her personal anthem, a Paul Revere piece that gallops through the town as a strident declamation. It is an amalgam of thoughts, concerns, and lessons as she nearly speaks the words, unmasked by flourishes, ensuring the meaning cuts through.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNormally a morning person, Lael recorded most of these songs in the darkening of the early evening, and so became \u003ci\u003eAcquainted With Night\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sub Pop","offers":[{"title":"Tape","offer_id":50448223797579,"sku":"1111717","price":8.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50448224387403,"sku":"1111716","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50448224813387,"sku":"1111715","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/b5dd51db-4c6e-4b15-8787-2f720cca6115_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727088040"},{"product_id":"altogether-stranger","title":"Altogether Stranger","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLael Neale’s\u003c\/strong\u003e minimalist drone pop draws inspiration from the Transcendentalists, the alienation of modern life, and a rich array of musical influences—ranging from Dionne Warwick and John Lennon to primitive American gospel and Spacemen 3.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHer expansive new record, \u003cem\u003eAltogether Stranger\u003c\/em\u003e, 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 terrain—from garage rock nursery rhymes and creation myths to Motorik dance dirges and solitary Omnichord meditations.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA brilliant lyricist, Neale has a unique ability to uncover the extraordinary within the mundane, tackling themes of polarity that recur throughout her work—country 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 Neale’s commitment to the raw immediacy and hand-made intimacy of home recording.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAltogether Stranger\u003c\/em\u003e is a stunning album filled with dreamlike reverie, Neale’s crystalline voice, and echoes of the Velvet Underground. It 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBorn and raised in Virginia’s idyllic countryside, Neale brought the high-lonesome sound of her home state with her when she moved to California to pursue music. After years of writing songs on guitar and playing small venues in Los Angeles, she discovered the Omnichord in 2019, which sparked a new creative direction.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis led to her 2021 Sub Pop debut album, \u003cem\u003eAcquainted With Night\u003c\/em\u003e. That album’s 2023 follow-up, \u003cem\u003eStar Eaters Delight\u003c\/em\u003e, deepened the collaboration with Blakeslee, infusing minimalist soundscapes with a heightened electric energy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eNeale’s subsequent tour included sold-out shows in Los Angeles, New York City, London, and Paris, multiple trips across Europe, and a West Coast run supporting kindred spirit Weyes Blood. This marked yet another return to Los Angeles.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIndeed, Los Angeles is not just the backdrop of \u003cem\u003eAltogether Stranger\u003c\/em\u003e but a lead character. The album’s 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOver the long year it took to write \u003cem\u003eAltogether Stranger\u003c\/em\u003e, Neale vacillated between childlike optimism and existential melancholy. While she may not have been able to reconcile these opposing states, \u003cem\u003eAltogether Stranger\u003c\/em\u003e represents an ambitious breakthrough for this singular, self-sufficient artist.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sub Pop","offers":[{"title":"LP - Cream | Rough Trade Exclusive","offer_id":51254740353355,"sku":"2500033","price":23.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"LP - Magenta","offer_id":51254696870219,"sku":"2500035","price":23.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":51254696902987,"sku":"2500037","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/a9a82c0a-8088-9312-a267-2a0d24ebe596_2124e4f6-7258-406a-b832-43f4b6150a8f.jpg?v=1752244619"},{"product_id":"as-killers-do","title":"As Killers Do","description":"\u003cp\u003eAfter three acclaimed records on Sub Pop, \u003cb\u003eLael Neale\u003c\/b\u003e returns with \u003ci\u003eAs Killers Do\u003c\/i\u003e, her first self-release on the new imprint Consensual Sound.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eRecorded in the kitchen of a bungalow in Echo Park, Los Angeles on a Tascam cassette 8 track, this is her fourth collaboration with \u003cb\u003eGuy Blakeslee\u003c\/b\u003e. It keeps faith with their stripped-back approach, where minimalism and the immediacy of home recording sit right at the centre.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAcross ten songs, \u003ci\u003eAs Killers Do\u003c\/i\u003e moves through echoes of LA’s Paisley Underground, 60s girl group sha-la-las, metaphysical proto-punk, lo-fi outsider folk and Surrealist psych-pop. \u003cb\u003eNeale\u003c\/b\u003e writes with a rare eye for the extraordinary in everyday life, while her crystalline voice and sharp observations give the record its quiet force.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Consensual Sound","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":58100164493643,"sku":"R8909-9411","price":31.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/CS01.jpg?v=1786441754"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/test_8cee752d_thumbnail_4096_272f979b-b6ac-445f-bba7-46b42b825aed.jpg?v=1727084418","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/lael-neale.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}