Family Affair
Alela Diane has just released her third album, Wild Devine, produced by Scott Litt (R.E.M. , Nirvana). The psych folk album tells tales of hope, death, and all of life’s messy-ness in between. After the breakout To Be Still two years ago, Wild Devine is both colorful and soulful in its approach and brought together by a cohesive band. Backed by hubby Tom Bevitori, her dad Tom Mening on guitar, Jonas Haskings on the bass, and Jason Merculief on the drums, it proves to be a successful family affair.
Kicking off Wild Devine, opener “To Begin” is both mesmerizing and unique with Diane’s dry raspy voice. “White Horse” brings a modern take on the classic Americana folk music with picked slide guitars and vocals that are both hearty and rare. “Breathless Highway” is a jazz imbued song that brings an alluring charm to the album as whole, while closer “Rising Greatness” ends everything on a relatively simple note compared to the rest of the album. The album overall is filled with retro keyboards, blue-grass style banjo’s and accordians that brings home the Americana feeling.
Alela Diane has strengthened her sound as she’s grown musically and Wild Devine is a perfect example of her blending of emotions and acoustics to create a heartbreakingly beautiful album. Old and new fans should be excited for what the future holds for this young woman.
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