Up and Away

Description

tella makes her Sub Pop debut with the mesmerizing Up and Away, an old-school pop paean to the pangs and raptures of love. From the Greek folk-inflected get-go, were swept up in tellas world and its quite the captivating place to be.

The singer-songwriter joined forces with artist and producer Tom Calvert (aka Redinho), and it was a match made in Athens; the results are heavenly. Tom caught one of tellas gigs on a visit to the city. He reached out, they started hanging out, and the pair soon clicked creatively. Both mention chemistry when asked about their collaboration and its clear, from what we hear, they had it in spades. The meld is seamless.

tellas songs have always riffed on American and Greek mid-century pop but Up and Away doubles down on the vintage aesthetic. Tom says he styled the record as if it was a rare gem from the 60s found in a box of records in Athens, and tella notes she was ready for a more deeply Greek touch it felt comfortable and right, smoothly fusing with the pop. The bouzouki appears on a full five tracks played by Christos Skondras who, she says, was brilliant at improvising, while Sofia Labropoulou on the kanun brought an insane amount of dreaminess to the last two songs. Having these amazing musicians play for Up and Away I couldnt be more grateful.

While not exclusively a confessional artist, tella is always intimate when she sings, its personal. She says she writes, about things I feel passion for. Stories about me, about others, about all thats there in love and war.While she wont be drawn out on more private inspirations for this album (There were one or two interesting things going on in my life, but we wont be going into those), tella will say she was, in a very emotional state at the time, which came through in the lyrics and vocals. And its true, her honeyed voice layered in those unmistakable harmonies of hers thrillingly runs the gamut from tender to terse, by turns bracing and smitten, aching and forlorn.

But its the lyrics that feel key. Across her output, tella has proven herself a strong storyteller, and Up and Away is no exception (the guise of the medieval bard she assumes on the cover is telling). Past releases have been studded with gem-like vignettes a diverse array of stories set tightly together to form non-linear narratives unified by emotion. Her latest feels singular in that it seems to trace a longer-form tale across songs, with each track escalating the records erotic arc. Rollicking album opener Up and Away launches us headlong into an all-consuming affair. Shes caught, she shivers, thrilled by a new beginning, the sweetness of her vocals offset by vertiginous, blistering blasts of bouzouki. And so the sensual scene is set.

Languorous Nomad sees her fall deeper, groove slower into love. Imbued with a tender urge to understand the other, and tinged with sadness, the song ends with the rhythmic thrum of cicadas nature too is calling out, courting a mate. Manros, meanwhile, is a foreboding instrumental interlude threaded with driving virtuoso runs of improvised bouzouki shimmers. An 1881 study defines the manros form as a ballad of erotic passion bursting from a heart on fire, or a deeply charged lament for the loss of ones beloved. Consider this a spoiler for whats to come.

Charmed opens with a disarming sixties shoop and lolls delightfully along, its feel-good surface bop hiding more melancholy truths and insecurities. Not so Another Nation, which boasts all the strut and swagger of an artist happy to be stepping out. Heres how love can feel: as joyous and beautiful and ridiculous as a flamingo galumphing forward to take flight. Boisterous Black and White drives home the vagaries of love (you redirected, you changed your mind) with a cyclical guitar riff at the songs heart mirroring the lovers spiraling complaint.

And then it hits: Titanic relays the relationships end in ways unexpectedly hopeful, plucking a constellation of endearing bygone names (John Borie, Laura Mae, and the like) from a list of the sunken liners survivors. With a breezy whistle, and propelled by bouncing staccato strums, tella makes it safe to shore, alone.

The albums final three tracks are left to deal with the aftermath. Heartfelt The Truth Is leaps forward to a time when she feels alright, but still I miss you every night. Unable to justify why theyre apart, most everything falls away as the song builds to an emotional climax that has no need of words, with tellas affecting voice left to melt into the bouzouki as she gives us an ever-surging series of sensational ooos that compellingly make her case.

Infectiously bassline-led Who Cares takes a more petulant, finger-pointing approach before toppling cheerfully into a boozy coping mechanism (in a bottle we all fell). But its mellow and reflective outro Is It Over that perhaps best distills Up and Aways core concerns: the conflicting and conflicted emotions inherent in love, that live on in ways we cant always understand or control. Love is like this record: when its over, you feel it still for time to come.