Name: Acquainted with Night
Brand: Lael Neale

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

SP1402

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Colour

White

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2021-02-19

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

PIAS

Tax rate GB

Standard:20

UPC / Barcode

0098787140217

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Total Cap

1 / Extended format: No / LP / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No / white

SPCD1402

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0098787140224

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1 / CD / Extended format: No / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

Artist

Lael Neale

Genre GB

Alternative / Modern

Label GB

Sub Pop

Lael Neale is a singer/songwriter originally from Virginia, currently residing in California. With her unique blend of folk and indie pop, she captivates audiences with her heartfelt lyrics and soulful melodies. Her music reflects her personal experiences and emotions, creating an intimate connection with listeners. Lael's powerful vocals and poetic storytelling make her a rising star in the music industry.
Having honed her craft through years of performing in local venues, Lael has developed a distinct sound that sets her apart from other artists. Her songs are filled with raw emotion and vulnerability, allowing listeners to relate to her on a deep level. Whether she's singing about love, loss, or self-discovery, Lael's authenticity shines through in every note.
In addition to her musical talents, Lael is also known for her captivating live performances. She effortlessly commands the stage with her mesmerizing presence and infectious energy. Audiences are drawn into the world she creates on stage, leaving them wanting more.

Short for "Subterranean Pop" 

The label was an outgrowth of [a=Bruce Pavitt]'s Olympia, WA based (print) fanzine, which became the well respected cassettezine of the same name. 

After his move to Seattle he ran a music column in the Seattle Rocket also called Sub Pop.

After initial forays into the record label world with a [a=Green River] 7" (not officially on Sub Pop) and the Sub Pop 100 LP, the label exploded onto the indie scene with four influential colored vinyl 7"s which included [a=Mudhoney]'s "Touch Me I'm Sick" which made the year-end top 10 playlist of nearly every music journalist in the world.

Subsequent hyping of the label in the English music press put them on the map, and grunge was born.

Label-Code is 03159; rarely found printed on releases (basically only on releases manufactured/licensed by Warner/WEA Germany)

Lael’s new album Acquainted With Night is a testament to this poetic devotion. Stripped of any extraneous word or sound, the songs are lit by Lael’s crystalline voice which lays on a lush bed of Omnichord. The collection touches on themes that have been thread into her work for years: isolation, mortality, yearning, and reaching ever toward the transcendent experience.

Lael grew up on a farm in rural Virginia, but for nearly 10 years called Los Angeles home. Those years were spent developing her songwriting and performing in venues across the city, but the right way to record the songs proved more elusive. She says, “Every time I reached the end of recording, I felt the songs had been stripped of their vitality in the process of layering drums, bass, guitar, violin, and organ over them. They felt weighed down.”

In a moment of illumination the solution presented itself: do the simple thing. In early 2019, in the midst of major transition, she acquired a new instrument, the omnichord, and began recording a deluge of songs. Guy Blakeslee, who had been an advocate for years, set up a cassette recorder in her bedroom and provided empathic guidance, subtle yet affecting accompaniment and engineering prowess. Limited to only 4-tracks and first takes, Lael had to surrender some of her perfectionism to deliver the songs in their essence. 

While Lael returned to her family farm in April 2020, Los Angeles is a player on this album, and “Every Star Shivers in the Dark” is an ode to the sprawling city, the outskirts of Eden. One can envision her walking from Dodgers Stadium to downtown, observing strangers and her own strangeness but determined to find communion with others. “Blue Vein” is her personal anthem, a Paul Revere piece that gallops through the town as a strident declamation. It is an amalgam of thoughts, concerns, and lessons as she nearly speaks the words, unmasked by flourishes, ensuring the meaning cuts through.

Normally a morning person, Lael recorded most of these songs in the darkening of the early evening, and so became Acquainted With Night.

Acquainted with Night

Music GB

Buy Lael Neale - Acquainted with Night (Vinyl, CD) now from Rough Trade - independent purveyors of great music, since 1976.