MDT-037 | October 6, 2009
Upon finishing the O+S album, Orenda was ready to venture out again under her own name, and craved an altogether different kind of project. She sought to create something very personal, simpler in style but no less intricate in craft, and something that required no computers or electronics of any kind. It's fitting, then, that Ask The Night was primarily recorded live to 8-track by Stephen Bartolomei (Mal Madrigal) in Orenda's former Omaha basement as well as by Andy LeMaster (Now It's Overhead; production on Bright Eyes, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, Azure Ray) in his Athens, GA living room.
The songs on Ask The Night vary in tone and style, often defying simple categorization. Subtle genre hints emerge such as old-time waltz ("Sister"), country ("Alabama"), folk ("The Garden") and haunting bluegrass ("High Ground"), while the instrumentation includes acoustic and slide guitar, mandolin, banjo, accordion, violin, upright bass, pump organ, even saw. From the plaintive, melancholy opener "Why Is The Night Sad" to the evocative "That Certain-Something Spring" to the sweetly doleful closer "The Moon Knows", Ask The Night is a true collection of folk music, translated through Orenda's unique perspective, woven and intertwined by her distinctive, heart-rending vocals.
The album features a wide variety of players and singers, including producers Stephen Bartolomei and Andy LeMaster, Isaac Brock (Modest Mouse), Dan McCarthy (McCarthy Trenching), and Adrianne Verhoeven (Dri, The Anniversary, Art In Manila), among others.
TRACKLIST
01. Why Is the Night Sad
02. High Ground
03. Sister
04. That Certain-Something Spring
05. The Garden
06. Wind
07. Alabama
08. The Mural
09. Half-Light
10. The Moon Knows