On Saturday Leila is interviewed on Resonance FM London Streaming Radio Station about Moonstone & Tar Sands album on Dexter Bently’s Hello Goodbe Show, Sat 18 May, 12-1.30pm GMT!
Moonstone & Tar Sands just had it’s first write-up on stalwart NZ reviewer Graham Reid’s Elsewhere.
‘Working here her trio and the PUBLIQuartet on strings, the pianist/singer skirts between genres (piano jazz, sung poetry, the melodrama of Broadway-like tunes) and – although they are quite dissimilar – the connection which comes to mind is Nina Simone for the expansive and exploratory vision.
On Negative Space she sings, “I’m no militant, I’m a peaceful kinda girl. I don’t aim to stake out my claim I just wanna do my thing about the place, but I exist in a negative space”…
For their intimacy and dense lyrics, these are songs you can imagine in a cabaret or hip nightclub setting, maybe even in a recital more than a larger concert setting.
Something as quiet, serious and cathartic as the stately, string-enhanced Tar Sands requires close attention: “I’m going on holiday, gonna sunbathe my troubles away so my pen, can cut a page again and move on.
“I bathe in music today to wash the pain away. Eyes are peeled like an onion skin, no surprises. Button up your mouth for what I’m about to say, stupidity is a silly word but pride and vanity go a long way.“I’ve seen the coward in the mouth of the wolf. And the fear and the blame. Kindness starts only with the self. Care for the mind every day . . .’
Listen to the live version of “Tar Sands” on today on the LEILA ADU YouTube