"I'm just the one left standing"
Whether Sara Rachele is soaking up fodder for her stories in her home town of Atlanta, Georgia or her haunts in New York City or down Nashville streets it is a sure thing that she will paint those pictures with a singular unique view and voice. I have written about her songs often and last time I wrote of her vocal aesthetic in this way:
"Rachele possesses a voice with an authentic kind of western / country / roots meets folk meets rock meet blues tone that feels not only pure but full of character.. full of character. It is a lovely voice full of bruises and bruises healed and one that has the ability to nestle itself deep inside your heart."
That ability to deeply touch us remains to be so true and on Still Alive that voice riding on guitar notes that vacillates between do wop punk and dark folk rock power is in top form and at it's truest self. Rachele's vocal aesthetic, smokey with a pure lilt that is so beautiful (and torn) tethered with a Southern patina, that again has a bit of early Dolly Parton tones, is so incredibly moving. Still Alive is a survivor story, a cold calculated walk through the human wreckage of a relationship torn asunder and Rachele feels every powerful step. I am starting to think Rachele simply feels too too much (if that is possible). A blessing and a curse.
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
“Change Your Mind (You Should Be Mine)” is Rachele’s exposition of long-distance love, a journey through her day in conversation with a distant someone, imploring them to turn back the clock. The song meanders around from Rachele’s hometown of Atlanta, GA and then to New York City’s East Village, asking us all, what happens if we alter fate, switch paths, as she laments moving on with her signature coo. While a wistful track, the record, produced by Spencer Garn (The Soulphonics) itself evolves into a more throwback sensibility, ala Dusty Springfield.
Another song about walking pensively through the streets of the city -- Rachele follows the A Side with an acoustic, live-in-studio rendition of Cracker’s 1993 hit, “Low,” recorded in East Nashville, TN with Johnny Duke (Little Big Town, Lee Ann Womack, Mary Chapin Carpenter.) Both tracks mixed by bandmate and confidant Kristofer Sampson (B-52s, The Coathangers, Balkans) creating a familiar sound with a little bit of an evolved Appalachian twang.
“Sublime.” - SPIN
"Masterful ... her singing envelops the nuance and intensity needed to tell the story." - NPR's All Songs Considered
“Heavy haze, psych guitars and a slow-burn croon … could easily soundtrack a heady, humid beach bender. Rachele draws comparisons to Julee Cruise, whose memorable appearance on Twin Peaks defined their shared brand of surreal doo-wop-inflected ballads. Well worth catching live.” - Village Voice
"Taking some tricks from the Phil Spector playbook, Rachele asks one of those questions meant to sting, drenched in gloriously doomy melodies and layered with her world-weary vocals, which betray the perfect dose of her folksy Southern twang." - KCRW
“Timeless, vibrant." - Glide Magazine
"A gem." - Daytrotter's Sean Moeller for Paste
“Will entice your ears into a listening nirvana.” - Magnet
"A lo-fi rock & roll effort worthy of Stevie Nicks." - Under the Gun Review
“Timeless, vibrant." - Glide Magazine
"A gem." - Daytrotter's Sean Moeller for Paste
“Will entice your ears into a listening nirvana.” - Magnet
"A lo-fi rock & roll effort worthy of Stevie Nicks." - Under the Gun Review
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