My favorite new artist seems to change week to week, or sometimes even day to day. It turns out there's a lot of great music being made. But for now, my new favorite is Dana Falconberry. She's been putting out records for a few years, but only popped up on my radar this week. She's got a fantastic new record coming out soon called Leelanau, which includes this meticulously crafted little gem, "Crooked River."
Falconberry's songs on Leelanau are like magical but strange little fairy tales. They shimmer and creep. Listening to them is like the musical equivalent of bounding through a poppy field, with fluttering little butterflies dancing in the air. But Falconberry isn't overly precious. There's mystery lurking in the shadows.
For "Crooked River," Falconberry says she was inspired by a sewer-creek in the back of an apartment building where she once lived. "I used to walk out there a lot and watch the water move. It always found its way through any obstacle, and that was inspiring to me. At the time, I was going through some rough stuff related to my career, and so I wrote 'Crooked River' as a sort of self-help song to get me through it. I wanted to emulate the different ways that water can sound, too; bubbly and quick, and also smooth and lazy. My good friend Christopher Cox arranged the strings for the song and really helped to bring that concept to life."
Leelanau is out Oct. 9 on Antenna Farm Records. You can hear more from the record on this week's All Songs Considered.
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