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"It was a constant invite. They kept asking me," says LaValle, who befriended Icelandic sensations Sigur Ros on their first U.S. tour and eventually began occasionally joining the group onstage several tours later. Along with Sigur Ros, members of Amina (Sigur Ros' string section) beckoned LaValle northward until he gave in. "There was this crazy rolling green countryside with horses and ponds. It was really surreal. I felt like I was on Mars," he chuckles warmly. Outside of the hustling, bustling confines of his previous environment, LaValle realized that he was in a profoundly different mental space, one that would deeply change the very nature of his compositions. He was IN A SAFE PLACE. "I've always felt that the music I make is perfect for that kind of (Icelandic) setting," he explains. Inside Sundlaughin - the name of the studio means "swimming pool" in Icelandic - and with the help of his hosts, including members of Sigur Ros, Mum, Amina and Black Heart Procession, LaValle was able to craft an album that ventures into new, at times indie-electronic territory. Chillingly delicate and more pop-based than ever before, IN A SAFE PLACE masterfully negotiates the spaces between minimal electronic music and melancholy instrumental neo-rock. The inclusion of vocals from The Black Heart Procession's Pall Jenkins, Sigur Ros' Jon Thor Birgisson, and LaValle himself is one of the striking new strides that resulted from this collaborative event. "If I wasn't in that environment," he marvels, "I sure wouldn't have sung!" THE ALBUM LEAF » Into The Blue Again « |
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