All Around Us
Briana's lyrics are forceful, and throughout her second album, 'All Around Us', traditional song structure gives way to plainspoken declarations that pull back the record's shroud. Her first single,"Surrender" is musically delicate at first, with flickering blips and chords that float into earshot like fireflies. "Take Care of Me" is the album's brightest and most immediate song, a buoyant celebration of friendship with a skittering beat and a warm, sweet melody. And title track "All Around Us" is a stark but inspiring beauty, built on the memory of a family member of Briana's who passed away, and the sadness of not being able to say "goodbye" or "I love you" one last time. It is the balance of the abstract and the intimate that makes Briana Marela and 'All Around Us' so special.
Briana Marela's new album, All Around Us, gets its name from a children’s book, an appropriate inspiration given the plainspoken way she talks about emotions. She recorded it in Reykjavík with Sigur Rós producer Alex Somers, and strings are played by Amiina, another name that shows up frequently in Sigur Rós album credits.
Briana Marela's label debut All Around Us shows flashes of excellence yet leaves room for growth.
Relative newcomer Briana Marela's latest album—the follow-up to her 2012 self-produced and self-released Speak from your Heart-has been a long time coming.
From the opening bars of Briana Marela's adorable second LP it's clear a substantial debt is owed to Iceland's Sigur Rós. Marela has