With her masts firmly hoisted in the air, Alessi Laurent-Marke is starting to make waves on both sides of the pond. Going by the moniker Alessi's Ark, the starred-eyed dreamer has a sound like Joanna Newsome with the elf power of Bat for Lashes. The well-traveled London singer-songwriter just released a fine EP of material with the help of Mike Mogis and Nate Walcott of Bright Eyes on production and backing vocals.
The Horse shows that this performer has got some chops and interesting mix of lush strings and magical wonderment. The title track plays like a fairy tale with a wealth of strings. Neighbour's Birds has a little more bite and drive to it, while Patchwork of Dreams might having you mistaken it for the newest track from Neko Case.
The 18-year old Alessi (no relation to the high-end housewares company) spent some time in New York area, before settling in London. Last November, she visited WFMU for a set on Irene Trudel's show. As always, you can listen to it via their website. Her segment is 2 hours into the show.
Her full-length debut, Notes from the Treehouse, will be out sometime this year and she'll return to New York for some gigs after SXSW.
And here's the video for the above song.
Thanks for the headsup on Alessi's Ark: she's wonderful!
Posted by: Matt | January 09, 2009 at 02:58 PM