Media Release for IMMEDIATE use.
Leila Adu
“Cherry Pie”
Album Release/Tour
Raglan: 10 June @ Raglan Town Hall
Auckland: 11 June @ The Odeon
Leigh: 12 June @ The Leigh Sawmill
Takaka: 22 June @ The Mussel Inn
Christchurch: 23 June @ Creation
Dunedin: 24 June @ Arc Cafe
Riverton: 25 June @ Riverton Arts Centre
Wellington: 8 July, in store @ Real Groovy 5pm & Happy 8pm
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OK, to describe the striking and spellbinding music of Leila Adu you first need to use a vast range of singers, Joni
Mitchell, Nico, Stereolab and PJ Harvey – to name a few, then there’s the varied genre descriptions of jazz, soul,
gamelan, Latino, funk, gothic and bossa nova.
But however you chose to describe Leila Adu’s “delightfully dissonant droning harmonies” (Sunday Star Times), it doesn’t
matter as Leila herself says “Convenient tags give people preconceived ideas that aren’t always correct.” Her sultry
voice and captivating music are unique and very much her own.
In June, Leila Adu’s second album, Cherry Pie, will be released and she will be performing a highly anticipated tour
across NZ. Cherry Pie was produced by David Long who also features on the album. Long was lead guitarist for The Mutton
Birds and produced Fur Patrol’s debut album Pet, for which he won Producer of the Year Award 2001. The album also
features drummer Ricky Gooch (Trinity Roots,) bass player Thomas Callwood and Jeffrey Henderson (Syzygy, Urban Taniwha.)
Leila Adu
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London-born, New Zealand-raised and of Ghanaian heritage, Leila’s broad scope of influences is more than merely
geographic. Leila studied post-graduate music composition at Victoria University and has composed a short film
soundtrack to Forty Degrees Something as well as electronic, instrumental and orchestral pieces. Along with her
post-graduate studies, Leila recorded her debut album, Dig A Hole in 2003.
Her music has seen her touring in NZ, London, Moscow, Canberra and Melbourne. In Melbourne, Shane Moritz of Beat
Magazine said, “Dig A Hole, her self-released debut, is a strange fusion of edgy soul and stuttering beats, complimented
by moody strings and an incomparable intensity that smoulders under smoky, stage lights.”
Leila has collaborated with a diverse range of musicians including hip-hop, rock, punk and electronic music and has been
part of the Wellington improvising scene performing at Bomb The Space and the Wellington International Jazz Festival.
Responses to Leila Adu’s previous album Dig A Hole
Rip It Up, Zoe Winkler, Feb/March issue, 2004
“Few debut artists are as daring as Leila Adu”
The Sunday Star Times, Grant Smithies, 18th May 2003
“Dissonant delight . . . Full of striking imagery and delightfully dissonant droning harmonies, the nearest reference
point lies somewhere between sad-eyed Brazilian crooner Astrud Gilberto and London-based avant-pop darlings Stereolab.”
The Dominion Post, John Kennedy, 1st May 2003
“Her voice is as distinctive as any you’ll hear on these shores – dark, sonorous, uninflected and unflinching.”
Beat Magazine (Melbourne) Shane Moritz
“She has a hypnotic voice, moderately spiced, sprinkled in firewater. Some call it sultry, and it is, but it’s also
heavy and soothing and gets under your skin in the most welcoming way.”
Live, Lucy Parr
“Leila Adu and her back-up musicians are definitely talented so look out for an opportunity to see this group live; it’s
guaranteed to be a spirited performance.”
www.leilaadu.co.nz
Brianne Kerr Publicity
briannekerrpublicity @ yahoo.co.nz