We missed her already. We’d only been separated from Alela for a few months when she returned for an encore session, although it wasn’t really a return at all. She was the first act to have recorded with us in Austin, Texas, during South By Southwest and then found their way up to Rock Island to get the home studio treatment – this one at the end of July. Since then, Dios Malos have joined that select group, but Diane was the first and there’s no taking that away from her. It was warm the week she was here, and humid. She arrived with her beau Tom, a young buck who looks like a timid Joe Cocker. Diane was wearing a pair of cowboy boots without stockings, or I suppose we’d never know, and cut-off jean shorts that didn’t reach far down the thighs and that could make you fall in love with cut-off jean shorts. She looked to have been perfected by summer, by the regular exposure to light sunshine and outdoors air, some swimming and leisure. We sent the two over to our favorite, dirty thrift stores after they’d recorded their session, prior to playing a small coffeehouse gig in town. They arrived at the show with empty hands, having not found a thing to buy and make their own next. Watching the two perform together – in the studio or on a stage doesn’t matter – is like watching gentleness. It’s like watching a Sunday afternoon from close up, a rainy Sunday afternoon. To hear her yell or to feel her blood boil seems like it might possibly be the most potentially unnatural thing that could ever be thought about. – Sean Moeller

First song
Age Old Blue (Alela Diane) [3.88MB] [3060 downloads]


– unreleased
Was written after talking to my grandma about some of our blue eyed ancestors who lived on the cliffs of Scotland overlooking the ocean.

Second song
Dry Grass and Shadows (Alela Diane) [3.01MB] [2814 downloads]


– original version appears on Grass Roots Record Company’s Family Album
Is about the golden hills of California, and other things too.

Third song
Oh! My Mama (Alela Diane) [3.17MB] [2712 downloads]


– original version appears on The Pirate’s Gospel
I originally wrote this song for a dance piece a friend was doing. There was a pregnant woman in the piece, and they were dedicating it to her — it made me think about mothers, and how beautiful it must be to become one. I performed it live for the first time for their dance show.

Fourth song
The Alder Trees (Alela Diane) [3.43MB] [2850 downloads]


– unreleased
Was written about some important friendships & thoughts of things long gone.