Vera Sola - Peacemaker (2024) [Hi-Res]

Peacemaker follows Vera Sola's critically acclaimed 2018 debut Shades. It marks a dramatic shift from the shadowy, enclosed nature of her first recordings, to a sweeping new sonic landscape and renewed focus on her remarkable voice. Recorded predominantly in Nashville over the fall of 2019, Vera Sola, ever the orchestrator, opened herself up to the magic of collaboration, working alongside co-producer Kenneth Pattengale, to bring in dozens of musicians to embellish the sound. The record is at times bold and orchestral while retaining some of the dirt and grit that was present under the fingernails of Shades, realising a whole world while managing to also find remarkable detail in snapshot vignettes. Influences range from New World Symphony - Antonín Dvořák’s exploration of American history and landscapes - to the rattling percussion and distorted guitar of 80s era Tom Waits. The lyrics are at times surreal, at others tender, unflinchingly bold and revealing or touching with jolts of everyday mundanity.