Vanessa Daou - Songs for Solace (2020)

With 'Songs For Solace', Vanessa Daou dives inward to deliver an intimate collection of dusky meditative moods designed to comfort and console those struggling with the anxiety, isolation and loneliness resulting from our "new normal" lives during the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Sourced exclusively from Daou's extensive catalog of eclectic genre-expansive works (from 1996 through 2020), the career-spanning anthology features a treasure trove of evocative, meticulously-selected recordings produced by Peter Daou, Animal Feelings, Kahari Mays, Ganga (Christian Ronn), Nor Elle (Terry Lee Brown Jr.), Anthony Johnson, VIOS (Timka and Gray Devio) and Vanessa, herself.

Conceived as a soothing late-night soundtrack, the sensuous set journeys through a seamless soundscape of sultry electronica, smoky jazz-pop, wistful Delta blues, symphonic lo-fi soul and sublime spoken word tracks intended for continuous play including: "Near the Black Forest 2.0 (Animal Feelings Rework)", "Little Black Dress", "How Do You Feel", "Heart of Wax (Ganga Mix)", "Dream", "The Poem" and "Once In A While (Nor Elle Mix)".

The soul-stirring opus offers listeners a therapeutic and cathartic musical remedy for these unprecedented times.

"In good times and bad, we turn to music to soothe our souls, mend our hearts and feed our desires" Daou explains. "Living in the midst of this pandemic - a collective global horror we have no word, term, or name for, the closest we’ve come to naming it is 'isolation'. But, in reality, the true feeling remains nameless, foreign and completely outside the frames of reference we're most familiar with and accustomed to. We've become stunted and paralyzed by the commingling of seclusion, fear, anxiety, fatigue, hopelessness, sleeplessness and dreamlessness."

"I hope this collection of my songs offers you companionship, healing, nourishment, and most of all, solace, wherever you are, and whenever you need it."