808713010725
808713010718

Understories

Julia Ulehla & Dalava

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Format: CD

Cat No: PI107

PRE-ORDER: This item will be shipped with the aim to deliver on release day.

PRE-ORDER: This item will be shipped with the aim to deliver on release day.

Release Date:  02 May 2025

Label:  PI Recordings

Packaging Type:  Digipak

No of Units:  1

Barcode:  808713010725

Genres:  World Music  Rock  

Release Date:  02 May 2025

Label:  PI Recordings

Packaging Type:  Slip Sleeve (CD or Vinyl)

No of Units:  1

Barcode:  808713010718

Genres:  World Music  Rock  

  • Description

    Dalava, the genre-defying ensemble led by vocalist Julia Ulehla with guitarist Aram Bajakian (Lou Reed, John Zorn), returns with Understories, a deeply evocative album that explores uncharted territories of sound, seamlessly weaving Moravian folk traditions with an experimental, improvisational approach into a captivating new soundscape. Their music has received critical acclaim for its expressive depth: fRoots extolled their prior release as "so overwhelming and so intense that it is hard to put into any category...Saying thatThe Book of Transfigurationsis a masterpiece is not an exaggeration."

    Much of the music is based on a published collection of engagingly melodic songs that Ulehla's great-grandfather collected from his native village a century ago. Sung in Czech and English, Ulehla's hypnotic voice spans from whisper to holler, by turns vulnerable and stentorian, embodying each song in its own fantastical world. The music resides in that indeterminate, liminal space between past and future, magic and realism, neither primordial nor of this world. The album is a sonic exploration that transcends time and borders, fusing disparate traditions into a singular, emotionally charged experience.

    Julia Ulehla: voice, effects, lotar
    Aram Bajakian: guitars, bass, piano, synths, percussion
    Peggy Lee: cello
    Josh Zubot: violin

    Description

    Dalava, the genre-defying ensemble led by vocalist Julia Ulehla with guitarist Aram Bajakian (Lou Reed, John Zorn), returns with Understories, a deeply evocative new album that explores uncharted territories of sound, seamlessly weaving Moravian folk traditions with an experimental, improvisational approach into a captivating new soundscape. Their music has received critical acclaim for its expressive depth: fRoots extolled their prior release as "so overwhelming and so intense that it is hard to put into any category.... Saying thatThe Book of Transfigurationsis a masterpiece is not an exaggeration."

    Much of the music is based on a published collection of engagingly melodic songs that Ulehla's great-grandfather collected from his native village a century ago. Sung in Czech and English, Ulehla's hypnotic voice spans from whisper to holler, by turns vulnerable and stentorian, embodying each song in its own fantastical world. The music resides in that indeterminate, liminal space between past and future, magic and realism, neither primordial nor of this world. The album is a sonic exploration that transcends time and borders, fusing disparate traditions into a singular, emotionally charged experience.

  • Tracklisting

      Disc 1

      Side 1

      • 1. open your ear to the great below
      • 2. escape velocity
      • 3. entanglement
      • 4. queen of heaven and earth
      • 5. bowed low
      • 6. the way down
      • 7. phase transition
      • 8. water of life
      • 9. sacrifice
      • 10. the way up
      • 11. side real time

    Tracklisting

      Disc 1

      Side 1

      • 1. open your ear to the great below
      • 2. escape velocity
      • 3. entanglement
      • 4. queen of heaven and earth
      • 5. bowed low

      Side 2

      • 1. the way down
      • 2. phase transition
      • 3. water of life
      • 4. sacrifice
      • 5. side real time