Lael Neale
photo by Jacob Boll

Lael Neale signs to Sub Pop, shares "Every Star Shivers in the Dark"

Los Angeles-via-Virginia musician Lael Neale released her folky debut album, I’ll Be Your Man, in 2015. She’s since discovered the Omnichord, and in 2019 began writing songs with it. Now she’s signed to Sub Pop and shared the first of those songs, “Every Star Shivers in the Dark.” The grandeur of the organ tones, joined by a tinny drum machine, give it a similar feel to Beach House’s more recent albums, and you can watch the video for it below.

“This is my ode to Los Angeles,” Lael says, “which always felt to me like the outskirts of Eden. I would walk a lot in the city, go from Dodgers Stadium into Downtown – along Alameda. Up in the hills, I’d look out at the vast sprawl and feel daunted. But Los Angeles is not as it appears. Even in moments of isolation, I have looked for communion with strangers and, almost always, found it. These were the scenes and feelings swirling around when I was challenging myself to write a song using only two chords.”

“In directing the video, I was aiming to reflect both the light and the shade I experienced in the city at the time I was writing the song,” she continues. “It was a nod to some of my favorite 60s films that marry the bright with the heavy, dark humor with dispassion.”

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