Search - Leni Stern :: When Evening Falls

With the release of 'When Evening Falls', award-winning guitarist Leni Stern draws upon her travels to Kenya, India and New Orleans to deliver her most cohesive singer-songwriter album to date. Using loops of audio samples recorded amid such diverse locales as West Africa and Bourbon Street, Stern weaves a fascinating, textured 10-song set. Conjuring headhunters and rascals alike, her tales come to life. From the haunting cautionary tale "Oje Mama Oje" to the hypnotic pulse of "House On A Hill", Stern's vocals call to mind a range of contemporaries, from Macy Gray to Joni Mitchell to Shawn Colvin. With the delicate "Let Me Fly" and the India-inspired "Abke Hum Bichede", she reveals a new confidence and passion in her songwriting. Stern's soulful cover of the standard "I'll Be Seeing You" brings to mind Sting's "Fragile" mixed with a bit of Edith Piaf. An unexpected delight is the irreverent "Ice Cold Water $1", as joyful as a child's tune, with a chorus that gets in your head and stays stuck. With her distinctive guitar solos, winning melodies and conversational lyrics, Leni Stern has taken an afternoon in New Orleans and turned it into a treat for the ages. Leni Stern documents her travels, filming and recording what she sees and hears. Sometimes casually, sometimes with careful planning, she compiles a travel log, and later builds songs around the experiences. Stern is "fascinated by how alike we are. Despite taking different shapes and singing different songs, we are all the same inside. We all see pain and injustice, we all have hopes, we all tell stories and share our histories with our children. Ultimately, there's an authenticity in these stories that transcends geography." It's a pursuit of that authenticity in her own writing which serves to drive and inspire Stern.