POWERLOVER is the 15th solo album by Azalia Snail, the pioneering avant-garde musician who was tremendously influential during the rise of the DIY recording movement in the 1990s. According to Robert Schneider (Apples In Stereo, Elephant 6 Recording Co.), “She is a singular creative influence on us, our scene, and our generation.” This new, all-instrumental album is out now via Cloud Recordings (Circulatory System, Tall Dwarfs, New Sound of Numbers) and has been described by Snail as “an ode to Brian Eno’s ambient soundscapes,” and it features Snail on Omnichord, drums, synths, and effects. Alan Sparhawk (Low) contributes ethereal guitar, while Snail’s partner Dan West (d’Animal) plays bass. According to Snail, “I was also lucky enough to connect with Adam Lasus from Studio Red (Gigolo Aunts, Helium, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Yo La Tengo), who has a great history of recording so many wonderful bands from the 90s until now… He is such a delight to work with! Not only very encouraging, but technically proficient.”
Snail continues, “I wanted to make an album that would reflect my feelings about the state of the world at this time. Although I’m a huge lover of poetry and usually use lyrics to accentuate those feelings, I felt that these instrumentals represent a feeling that I wanted to convey; uneasiness, anxiety, intensity, reservation. As the album progresses, I wanted to enforce a more positive feeling; hope, beauty, resonance, reflection.” Of single “Don’t Get Too Close To Me,” she says, “[it] is an instrumental that conveys the feeling of the ‘impending doom’ of living in a world gone topsy-turvy, initially by a worldwide pandemic, and which continues on as humans must deal with the threat of potentially alienating factors such as AI, the increasingly competitive nature of modern society, and useless and violent man made wars, not to mention the looming climate war.” Another single, “Zap You of That Hate,” begins with a simple yet determined riff and builds tension as it turns into a layered, transcendent hymn that evokes an urgent plea for humanity to be kinder.
“The trailblazing avant-garde musician [is] renowned for her unique blend of experimental sounds and heartfelt emotion.” – Psychedelic Baby Magazine
“Azalia Snail resets your brain from the conditioned conformity of modern life.” – Queen City Sounds and Art
FCC Clean
Label: Cloud Recordings
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Track 3, “Don’t Get Too Close To Me,” Track 2, “Zap You Of That Hate,” Track 1, “Take Away His Power,” Track 6, “Expert Outlier”
