Alanna Eileen’s new single Faded Image marks a stylistic departure from much of her other work.
It wavers between chocolate box and alt country. Whereas the song knowledge, which was recorded in the Cantabrian seaside town of Lyttelton, has more of a dark ambient feel.
Faded Image was recorded in Richmond, Virginia in the US of A, and the Americana influence is audible. Her earlier work is nice, she’s a good songwriter, but this song is another step up in melodic and lyric writing. Lyrically it tells a tale of a person who’s been dumped. The protagonist is wondering if her former beau will remember her or will their memories fade.
The timbre of Alanna Eileen’s voice reminds me of women with vocal training, like Kate Bush and Tori Amos, while not a cold voice it has a brittle quality which really suits this song and it has been masterfully multiplied for emphasis on the pre-chorus, and more so in the chorus proper.
Faded Image is a great teaser for an album which this music critic and fan hopes is in the pipeline.
Alanna Eileen is a Christchurch-based songwriter, originally from Australia. She moved to New Zealand after working with Lyttelton producer Ben Edwards in 2016. Her latest release, Artifice, was recorded with Alan Weatherhead (Sparklehorse, Magnolia Electric Co.) in the United States.