ifitbeyourwill S04E14 • Lea Thomas

Join us for an engaging conversation with Lea Thomas, a talented musician with a rich catalog spanning over a decade. Lea's musical journey began in her artistically vibrant family, where she first fell in love with the piano and guitar. She fondly recalls writing her first song, inspired by Alicia Keys, and shares the unique challenges she faced exploring her musical interests in a place where her preferred genres were not mainstream. Discover how setting up a home recording studio became a pivotal moment in her independent artistic development, allowing her to experiment and refine her sound.

As we explore Lea's transformative songwriting journey, she reveals how living in the city inspired a purpose-driven approach to her music, emphasizing a connection with nature as a source of healing and stability. Lea discusses the evolution of her music over the past decade, highlighting a shift from external influences to a more authentic expression of self. Her latest album, released in September, stands as a personal letter to the world, capturing her growth in confidence and communication, and showcasing the beauty of embracing individuality in artistic expression.

Lea also takes us on a journey through her process of creating vulnerable musical landscapes. She reflects on the evolution of her confidence and how setting energetic boundaries has transformed her approach to performing, turning music into an offering rather than a forced experience. Recorded in a serene, isolated environment, her latest album carries a minimal and introspective sound, influenced by the tranquility of its surroundings. Finally, Lea shares the joy of finally sharing this work, along with the poetic expressions of love and happiness that permeate her music, capturing the essence of emotional connections and the beauty of living in love.

 

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Genres: Indie Rock. Slowcore, Folk rock, Ambient, Liminal, Cinematic, Shoegaze

RIYL: Phil Elvrum/Mount Eerie, Low, Mark Hollis, Beth Gibbons, Grouper, Stars of the Lid, Mazzy Star, Yo La Tengo, Jessica Pratt

What i love about her music are the textures - Bob Boilen, NPR Music

a gentle, naturalistic space guided by expansive soundscapes and lush instrumentation - Under the Radar

At once subtle and yet powerful, understated yet grand and expansive, ‘The Gift’ is a haunting song that remains with you after listening. - Americana-UK

A dynamic reflection on themes of transformation, belonging, and self-discovery - American Songwriter on "Mirrors To The Sun"

"evok[es] the transportive, transcendent powers of nature" - Various Small Flames

Lea Thomas • We Must Be In Love • 2024

linktr.ee/lealeathomas

"We Must Be In Love" is a love song. It could be a love song for anyone or anything but for me, it has become a love note to the cosmos, to this earth, to the places that shaped my life, and especially for the island of Maui in Hawai’i, where I grew up. I like to think that true love has a way of slowing down time so you can "let yourself be happy.”

🎙️ ifitbeyourwill Ep. 10 • Vines

Cassie Wieland of Vines joined me from flooded Brooklyn to talk origin story, the  writing process that found her voice and the wild life of an independent musician. Classically schooled, you can hear that fine tuning in the ambient and expansive indie pop songs. Vines uses a harmonizer to help in the creating of this minimal pop music, only adding to the depths and breath on her new record Birthday Party, an eight song journey into a mystic place of sound and reflection. We feature a stunning cover of Modest Mouse’s The World at Large at the end of the cast. Check out Vines at https://cassiewieland.com/watch-listen/

Cassie Wieland (pronounced ˈkæ-si ˈwee-lənd) is an Illinois-born and Brooklyn-based composer. Praised by The New York Times as “sweetly shimmering,” Wieland masterfully experiments the relationship between intimate and massive sound worlds to achieve the “hand-made” sound she is often looking for: imperfect, but intentional. Her music has been featured on outlets including New Sounds, NPR, Stereogum, KEXP, The New York Times, Financial Times, Musical America, I Care if You Listen, AnEarful, and The Road to Sound.

Careful • Promise dance + projection test • 2023

https://likeoverflowing.com/

“Gorgeous . . . . From a tradition of unnervingly confidential, light-voiced male singers: João Gilberto, Arthur Russell, Lou Barlow of Sebadoh, Elliott Smith, Jamie Stewart of Xiu Xiu.”
- New York Times

“Eric Lindley plays intimate, quirky songs with layered vocals that flow over warm acoustic guitar. Lindley colors his soft harmonies and restrained writing style with carefully placed electronics.”
- NPR

"A hopeless, pretty puzzle." 
- Consequence of Sound

"Devastatingly intimate."
- Under the Radar

"A nostalgic touch brought to life by a warm yet distorted soundscape of soft saxophones bolstered by poignant song writing"
- Earmilk

"A beautiful song about a harrowing subject."
- Backseat Mafia

"Eric Lindley’s songs have the power to infuse the stretch of time they occupy with a sadness that’s incidental but devastating."
- LA Record

Keeley Forsyth • I Stand Alone • 2022

“We shot the video over two bitterly cold countryside days. We took influence from the cinematic traditions of folkloric horror and British rural gothic, as well as respectfully referencing Carl Dreyer’s classic The Passion Of Joan Of Arc, where the concentration and focus is on the main protagonist’s face and expressions, shot in intimate close-ups. We were keen to capture the absurdist aspect of the character ignoring her predicament, and staying committed to her own ‘truth’, in spite of what society may throw at her.”

Talons' • 2 Weeks • 2021

caroline • IWR • 2021

The London-based eight-piece combine elements of classical minimalism, Appalachian folk and even Midwestern emo into songs that feel both spare and sweeping, managing to mesmerize in spite of their rustic, even spartan simplicity. On their latest single, “IWR,” Jasper Llewellyn’s gentle nylon-string guitar is the tiny seed from which a towering tree slowly, surely grows, with almost lullaby-like group vocals urging it on: “Somehow / I was right / all along,” caroline insist as the track expands, guitars, bass and percussion all blossoming. paste

Constant Follower • What's Left to Say • 2021

"One of the most beautiful records I have ever been privileged to be a part of, filled to the very brim with moment after moment of poetic clarity, and not a moment too late...an interior force to be reckoned with. I've never experienced anything quite like it. It weaves elements of the past around a future I was wholly unaware of before hearing these breath-taking songs, each one a kind of memorial to a memory that may or may not have merely been imagined or hoped into existence." - Kramer (Shimmy-Disc Founder)

"The track perfectly captures a picture of tranquil beauty and unvarnished honesty."
- Under the Radar

“The neo-folk music of Stephen McAll and his band, Constant Follower, is intimate, unvarnished. Its raw inner beauty casts a deeply affecting spell. McAll’s husky murmur and the sensitive accompaniment is a rare source of comfort, like gently flickering log fire embers on the darkest night of the year. McAll and co have composed the perfect huddling soundtrack. It’s swaddled in sadness, but always offers hope.”
- The Scotsman

“A beautiful piece of songwriting, with its simple poignancy carrying with it the wisdom only experience can offer.”
- Clash Magazine

“More brilliant new music from Scotland. From Stirling, it's the sublime Constant Follower.”
- BBC Radio Scotland

Praises • A World On Fire • 2021

https://smarturl.it/hdd082

On EP4, Praises pushes beyond their recent industrial synth-based offerings, incorporating the intensity of their highly regarded live performances with an intimate, collaborative, and distanced songwriting process. EP4 was composed as a combination of two songs that never felt like they had a home until they were met with two new tracks formed in collaboration with producer, DJ, and performer Shortbloom (aka Sachin Mohindra). In this "grueling time of human reckoning," the songs on EP4 grew slowly and reflective. One about the quieter moments of love in the storm of 2020 (Apples For My Love), one a vicious anti-trump / anti-American declaration (We Let Go), one a call of protest (Soil), and one a track about diaspora and war (A World On Fire). With these themes of mortality, identity, and love, Jesse Crowe's 4th EP as Praises examines their recovery, strength, and their enduring lightness.

Ghostly Kisses • Alone Together (EP) • 2021

Ghostly Kisses is the dreamy pop music of singer songwriter Margaux Sauvé.

The name ‘Ghostly Kisses’ was inspired from reading William Faulkner’s poem 

‘Une ballade des dames perdues’ and seemed like the perfect reflection of her ethereal voice.  

ghostlykissesmusic.com

Best of 2020 • JFDR • Dream On EP

The seven songs on Dream On include three previously unreleased songs and sees her revisit songs from New Dreams. Known for her raw lyrics and haunting melodies JFDR takes you on an inward journey on her latest EP. Lead single Drifter is soulful and grounded and kept afloat by somber piano and strings, performed by two frequent collaborators – her twin sister Ásthildur Ákadóttir and lauded cellist Gyða Valtýsdóttir (Múm).

Says JFDR on Dream On:

“New dreams came out as coronavirus burst and the world was changing dramatically. I was about to go on tour but wasn’t quite ready and so I was secretly relieved. Much later, I thought about all the things that didn’t happen and I decided to investigate that space – the result is the EP you’re about to hear, Dream On. It’s a study on new dreams, a way to indulge in it. A kind of alternative version you might hear live. Unheard ideas coming to life, and now I can close that chapter and move along to the next and the next and the next.” NT

Helena Deland • Truth Nugget • 2020

https://helenadeland.bandcamp.com/album/someone-new

 

We had the pleasure of seeing Montréal’s Helena Deland open for Connan Mockasin at the 2019 Montréal Jazz Festival, where Deland’s deft lyricism and sonic edge left a lasting mark. For her debut album, she’s signed to Chris Cantallini’s (of timeless indie blog Gorilla vs. Bear) Luminelle Records, and her dreamy sound slots nicely next to label mates like Anemone, Hana Vu and Jackie Mendoza. On songs like “Someone New” and the spectacular “Truth Nugget,” Deland expands on themes of interpersonal dynamics and identity in powerful ways. She is undoubtedly one of the best new talents to emerge from the robust Montréal indie scene. —Adrian Spinelli

Jotsey • Heroine • 2020

Jotsey, 22, is a singer/songwriter from a town called Bolton in Manchester UK. His debut single 'Colours' independently amassed 50k+ plays across all platforms and was playlisted/blogged by 15+ major tastemakers like 'The Good Melodies', 'Mr. Foxx', 'Ryan Cassata', 'thedrunkencoconut', 'the feels', 'CHILLFILTR', 'RKJ Music', 'Indie Music Centre' and many more!

Second single 'Sober' was out 31st January. And 'Heroine' is out now (April 17th) and is set to be pushed by the likes of Kings Of A&R (top 10 music blog in the world) amongst others.

Jotsey's first ever headline show, at The Eagle Inn - Manchester on 28th November is being promoted by massive music promoters 'DHP Family'...who even at this early stage are very invested in the potential success of Jotsey. With Bon Iver feel & Billie Eilish sensibility, Jotsey is set to make waves in the UK and beyond. Don't miss the ride!

Wolf & Moon • The Road • 2020

Berlin based, Wolf & Moon is gearing up to launch their sophomore album in September of 2020 and continue touring in Europe and North America. The Road is the debut single from that album, and is a radical glimpse into Wolf & Moon’s sonic evolution. The Road shares with us a Darker, more troubled side of this usually bright and shiny duo. This new exploration comes complete with crunchier guitar lines and a more discordant vocal presence, equally inspired by garage rock, shoegaze and their mainstay folk sounds. The Road finds Stef & Dennis questioning their world. This snapshot in time revolves around the lyrical theme “How would you really know what you’ve got?” In asking the listener this question, Wolf & Moon highlights the instability of the world. How does one take an inventory of their circumstance as we travel along the road of life, if the road of life is ever changing? 

Candace • Covers • 2020

candaceisaband.com

Lukas Ionesco • Time Is Gone • 2020

A new track, still fully folk and raw, from his new album "Magic Stone" scheduled for March 20th! The video clip is produced by his artistic and life partner Clara Benador, who once again shows the elegance and modern romanticism of this unique duet.

boerd feat. Stella Explorer • Before We Drown (Live Session) • 2019

Swedish downtempo producer boerd has just released his new album with Anjunadeep last week and is carving his own unique path in electronic music fusing classical undertones with downtempo electronica. The Swedish producer, who is a classically trained musician performing as part of the Royal Swedish Opera moonlights as an electronic producer signed to London’s infamous Anjunadeep.

“Ethereal vocal performances, feather-lite melodies and stunningly intricate production”

Complex

“26-year-old Bård Ericson is an undisputed force to be reckoned with.”

Wonderland Magazine

“Beautifully abstract electronic work that brims with tingling atmospheres.”

The Line of Best Fit

“Fragile, spectral electronics with a sharply defined melodic edge”

Clash

“The rare producer who can warm your heart as well as your mind.”

The 405

 “A truly beautiful piece of minimalist production”

Earmilk

Best of 2019 • Modern Nature • How to Live

www.modernnature.band

British songwriter Jack Cooper’s former group Ultimate Painting paid tribute to the southern Colorado countercultural artists’ community Drop City, which formed in 1965 and was abandoned to biker gangs by the early 1970s. When Ultimate Painting imploded last year, and Cooper’s new group Modern Nature debuted with an 11-minute piece of cosmic minimalism, one might’ve expected them to dive further into the swirl. But the band’s full-length debut, How To Live, anchored by Cooper and BEAK>’s Will Young, offers a more grounded escape route, blurring ideas of city and country in search of transcendence. Pf

On Modern Nature’s debut album, How to Live, urban and rural cross into each other. Plaintive cello strains melt into motorik beats. Pastoral field recordings drift through looping guitar figures. Rising melodies shine with reflective saxophone accents. Throughout this continuous work, where no song ever really seems to end, there’s an indelible feeling of constant forward motion. It’s as if the band is laying down a railway and riding it simultaneously, and you can hear all kinds of landscapes passing by.

Romantic States • Ballerina • 2019

Romantic States has been releasing music under the name for almost a decade. They've toured sold-out theaters as Beach House's support. Guitarist Jim Triplett was half of Wham City blasters Videohippos. Their striking cover art is by singer-songwriter Ilenia Madelaire. For this new record, the band grew from a duo to a quartet to include Wildhoney/Expert Alterations bassist Alan Everhart and drummer Shawn Durham (who has spent time drumming for Snail Mail, Emily Yacina, Gauche, and many more).

Alice Boman • The More I Cry • 2019

https://www.aliceboman.com/

"Swedish songwriter Alice Boman is a ghostly, whispered presence... which starts as an elegy and ends with solace" - The New York Times on “Dreams”

"Recalls the delicate intimacy of Perfume Genius" - The Guardian

“A subtle, nuanced balance between enthralling dream pop and stark confessional” -Clash

"Mixes ethereal folk twinges with unabashed pop glory" - The Line Of Best Fit