REVOLVE SOUND
Briana Marela (OAK)
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Barrel Blood Collective (AVL)
$10 Suggested Donation
(pay what you can)
photo by eleanor petry
There is something enduring about great love songs, and Briana Marela's Call It Love wraps its wide arms around the subject, invoking all its complexity. From the getgo, Call it Love opens with a reflection on a new love. An unfurling, ambient hum builds slowly, articulating that unmistakable head-in-the-clouds feeling that accompanies early love, before giving way to an uptempo melody and a clattering, joyful chorus. Layers and textures evoke its subtler feelings, while the lyrics speak frankly, holding nothing back. Deepening her songwriting and expanding her palette, Briana Marela has made her proverbial giant leap, to explore the sounds of love in beautiful, striking new ways.
ABOUT BRIANA
Briana Marela is a Latinx electronic musician formerly from the Pacific Northwest, but who has recently moved to Oakland, CA to pursue an MFA in Electronic Music at Mills College. She grew up in Seattle, then lived in Olympia for many years where she became immersed in the NW DIY music scene. At 22 she booked herself a 2 1/2 month tour around the United States and her music caught the ear of producer Alex Somers (Julianna Barwick/Sigur Rós). She was invited to record in Reykjavik, Iceland with Somers. The album found release on Jagjaguwar Records in 2015, titled All Around Us. The latter being an ethereal ambient pop album that featured primarily acoustic and sampled instrumentation, featuring strings by Amiina. Her second album for Jagjaguwar titled, Call It Love, was released in 2017, recorded in Brooklyn, NY and infused with the energy of living in the city while working on it. This newer album was a more pop/beat driven record utilizing Marela’s evolved songwriting and production skills. No longer signed to a label, Marela is deep into working on a new album with no release date set. She is currently interested in sampled instrumentation and synthesis performance with MaxMsp, using her voice as a focal point as well as an ambient texture in compositions, and exploring her fascination of interpersonal relationships and looking towards creating understanding between people through peaceful melodies and plain spoken text of open communication and unconditional love.