Boise, Idaho’s Aka Belle have released their new double album All Time is Now, Now is All You Have + The Time for Love is Always Now via Moon Ruins Records. Featuring the singles “Six Severed Feet”, “Fittin In”, “The Envy Of Venus”, and “Radiant”, the album is a shimmering powerhouse of divine energy.
Songwriting couple Catherine and Sam Merrick teamed up with longtime friends Anthony Mulparry and Jake Stigers to form Aka Belle. The band’s fifth member, Christine Nygard, would later join after experiencing the band’s bewitching, ceremonial-like live show. In fact, it’s those performances that have endeared Aka Belle to the Pacific Northwest music community. With the release of their new album, Aka Belle aims to harness the stellar potency of those performances and share them with the world.
Recorded at Chop Shop Recording Services in Boise, Idaho, and HQ Performance Space in La Grande, Oregon, All Time is Now, Now is All You Have + The Time for Love is Always Now combines psychedelic blues with hints of bossa-nova, ‘60s teen pop, ‘70s punk rock snark, with eclectic instrumentation including vibraphone and theremin to create an abundantly diverse sound that harkens back to the pinnacle of protest rock. Using a process the band has dubbed “Live, 2-Stage Cosmophonic Recording”- recording all the instruments live in one take, then standing in a circle to record all the band members’ vocals in a second live take -they were able to capture the power of the moment and translate that energy into the album.
With its ethereal cover art and marbled vinyl pressing, Aka Belle wanted to create an album that was physically and sonically impactful. “The whole package is meant to be a piece of art,” says vocalist Catherine Merrick, “that was important to us, to make something beautiful to hold and look at as well as listen to.”
All Time is Now, Now is All You Have + The Time for Love is Always Now encompasses a fascination with nature and the Universe, but there is an underlying urgency weaving through the album: “Envy of Venus,” a dramatic evangelical style damnation sung from the perspective of Mother Earth; the hypnotic plea for bodily autonomy – and a brief trip through the historical suppression of women – in “Raise Power;” the more than ever relevance of “New Highs in Leadership;” they share their yearning for connection and the anxieties of living in our current world of distraction/uncertainty (“Transmission ‘74,” “Fittin’ In”).
These heartfelt messages for humanity are lovingly balanced with psychedelic, surprisingly quirky mantras; reminders to embrace our unique inner divinity; likening sunlight to a first kiss; introducing you, gentle listener, to travelling salesmen promoting time travel; and inviting you to swim in the dreamy warm water of morning dew.
Aka Belle have summoned the cosmos and present to you their creation –
“it’s radiant, baby – don’t forget it.”
Featured image by Lexy Byrd.
SOURCE: Official Bio
LINKS:
https://www.akabelle.org
https://www.instagram.com/akabellemusic/
https://www.facebook.com/akaBelleBoise/
https://www.youtube.com/@akaBelle-kq1xj
https://akabelle.bandcamp.com
https://music.apple.com/us/artist/a-k-a-belle/505166794
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6b8hJwJrOM47P2t188rSNY