A haunting suite from ALU

[ALU photo from alumusic.com]

For the last few weeks I've been enjoying the hauntingly sweet world of ALU. No, not sweet like Pollyanna, more like the sweet perfume of dying flowers drying in the dusty window's sunlight of Mrs. Haversham's parlor.
A better turn of phrase to describe ALU's Infomercial Gasmask CD is as
a haunting suite of ethereal music, that touches on elements of classical, jazz and electronica with both an intellectual and emotional sophistication.

Thoughts on some of my favorite tracks from ALU's Infomercial Gasmask:

"Ghostdream" - ALU's voice has the quality of a taut rope being pulled by irresistible forces, simultaneously fraying, unraveling as it also keeps from tearing apart. The tension in the song is relentless.

"Avalon" - An eery cocktail of a song. ALU's otherworldly harmonies are like a siren call, hard to submit to and hard to resist. The piece is one ring down, closer to Lucifer. And oddly cheerful.

"Confessions of an Undertaker" - One of my favorites on the CD, it's a low-key, melancholic pop song. One part Buffy, most parts blues. "Searching for a soul like her own in a graveyard, you hope she finds him."

When I first finished listening to Infomercial Gasmask I thought, "Wouldn't it be delicious irony to see an infomercial selling this very CD." There's talk of an ALU music video in the works. I look forward to seeing ALU's video as much as I look forward to her next CD.

Click to visit ALU's web site to learn more about her and to listen to her wonderful music.