Elaine Lachica Premiere: "Bewilder" MP3 | Under the Radar Magazine Under the Radar | Music Blog for the Indie Music Magazine
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Elaine Lachica

Premiere: “Bewilder” MP3

Jan 04, 2010

Fordham University professor Elaine Lachica is a classically trained soprano with a towering voice and compositional prowess to boot. The Baltimore native begain playing piano, violin and voice at three, before going on to study at the Peabody Conservatory of Music and London’s Royal College of Music. That prestigious background landed her equally coveted gigs touring as a soloist for the New York Collegium, Waverly Consort, and Rebel Baroque Orchestra.

Lachica has already written and self-produced two prior LPs: 2002’s 9 and 200’s Apolune, but February 23rd brings the release of her third full-length, I Think I Can See the Ocean (Stunning Models on Display). The forthcoming long-player was produced by Kieran Kelly at his studio, The Buddy Project. Lachica’s primary touchstone (Liz Fraser of the Cocteau Twins) shines through on “Bewilder,” an exclusive track from the new release.

From the outset, a lullabye keyboard motif drifts through the smoky ether of Lachica’s voice. The guitar and drums rumble in hushed tones before building and retreating like a wave. In the hands of other musicians, “Bewilder” might have sounded too calcuating, too exacting, but Lachica evokes just the right mélange of hushed brittleness and frost-bitten pathos. Her down-tempo, early-dawn soundscapes enrapture the heart and transport the mind.

Lachica is aided and abetted in her musical journey by a bountiful host of indie sidemen. Guest artists on the new release include drummer Mark Stepro (Ben Kweller), bassist Rob Calder (Ari Hest), Aaron Lee Tasjan (New York Dolls), a string quartet led by violinist Rob Moose (Antony and the Johnsons, Sufjan Stevens) and a brass section spearheaded by trumpeter Jon Mizrachi (Essie Jain). The full credits can be found on Lachica’s website. Also, be sure to check out I Think I Can See the Ocean‘s shuffling coffee house cut, “Behind My Mind.”

I Think I Can See the Ocean:

01 Behind My Mind
02 Tumbleweed
03 Bewilder
04 Jinx the Line
05 Imperfect
06 April Train
07 Wild Wielding
08 Never Fade
09 Hold on Fire
10 Collective Myth
11 Clearing
12 Jinx (Reprise)
13 Rapture
14 The Lake