It was all the way back in 2014 when Lia Ices released her delightful album Ices, but when she returned last month with “Hymn” it seemed a follow-up might be on the cards. That has now been confirmed, as Lia will be releasing a new record called A Family Album (which was recorded while she was pregnant with her first child) on January 29 through her own label Natural Music. She has also shared another track from the upcoming album called “Young On The Mountain”, and she told Flood Magazine about it, saying:
“[‘Young on the Mountain’] captures the nature, the tranquility, the spirituality that comes with inhabiting such a beautiful space—one where growth is inevitable. I wrote ‘Young On The Mountain’ to crystallize the feelings I had right after we moved to Moon Mountain in Sonoma — I had a sense of freedom I’d never felt before, like I could really create my own reality and a way of life that I hadn’t even dreamt of yet. Living amongst towering oaks and fruit trees, reading the California naturalist poets, being so close to the birds and sky. The mountain changed me and my songwriting, and reinforced the notion that the more real life gets, the more mystical it feels.”
Lia immediately draws is into this mystical and verdant scenery with simple but perfectly-toned instrumentation; playful percussion, cascading pianos and some other lightly psychedelic flourishes that sound like synth flutes. Her sweet voice is the icing on top, soaring over this landscape with captivating beauty, inviting us to appreciate being alive and to take in the wondrousness of the world around us with gentle suggestions: “we see impossible colours.” With unabashed beauty and unquantifiable grace in her playing and singing, she has created a whole countryside for us to bask in on “Young On The Mountain”.
Lia Ices’ new album A Family Album is coming out on January 29 through Natural Music. You can find her on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
