Leila Adu “Cherry Pie” Album Release/Tour

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

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