Barefoot on Diamond Road
‘Barefoot On Diamond Road’ is the third album from Dutch singer/songwriter Amber Arcades. A record of engaging maturity, filled with slow motion builds and epic lifts that elevate it to dizzying heights. Immersed in an all-consuming wall of sound, ‘Barefoot On Diamond Road’ is like My Bloody Valentine gone acoustic, it shouldn’t work but it does; it’s a juxtaposition of textures, from skittery, uneasy dancefloor beats to symphonic kosmische, a baroque pop tapestry side-stitched with cellos and harps with a plaintive steel guitar echoing in the distance. Conceived remotely with original sparring partner Ben Greenberg (Danny Elfman, Depeche, Ryley Walker) in New York and Annelotte in Amsterdam. It’s a coming of age set in a new town with a new positivity underpinning her, as ever, beautifully crafted and highly personal observations on life, love and how it all should or could work. “This record really reveals parts of me and my relationship with being a musician and making music. It’s like a reckoning, more in the moment, realizing how important it is to do things for the right reasons and how that can change your process into one that embraces what exists, including yourself.” Amber Arcades’ new album ‘Barefoot On Diamond Road’ marks a new phase for a highly respected musician.
Discover Barefoot on Diamond Road by Amber Arcades released in 2023. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic.
Amber Arcades (aka Dutch musician Annelotte de Graaf) released one of the 21st century’s finest debuts in 2016 with Fading Lines and then followed it up two years later with the slightly more introspective European Heartbreak.