“Manzanita” is the common name for a kind of small evergreen tree endemic to California which has strong medicinal properties. It’s also the name of the brand new full length by visual artist, writer, songwriter, and musician Shana Cleveland. “This is a supernatural love album set in the California wilderness,” Cleveland explains. The combinations of words and song structure are so strong throughout that one hardly notices Cleveland’s nimble fingerpicking on first listen, or how much is packed into the arrangements. The lyrics are satisfyingly direct, with the buoyantly whimsical descriptions typical of the 1960s New York School of poetry. It’s peppered with the kind of unexpected turns that make the words more modern, and in their spookiness they are more West Coast, Cleveland says:
This is a love album that’s somehow populated with the insect world, ghosts, and evil spirits. Sonically, “Manzanita” sits in a meadow similar to her previous solo records, set back and away from the genre-recombinant garage pop of her band La Luz. This is part due to the fact that there’s a different sonic palette in use here. While Cleveland continues to play guitar and vocals; Abbey Blackwell (Alvvays, La Luz) play the bass; Will Sprott plays the keyboards, dulcimer, glockenspiel, and harpsichord—little of which would have been out of place on her previous two solo records—Sprott also adds layers of synthesizer infused with the sounds of the natural world.
Shana Cleveland performing live in the KEXP studio. Recorded February 8th, 2023.
Songs: Quick Winter Sun Faces In The Firelight A Ghost Walking Through Morning Dew
Shana Cleveland – Guitar / Vocals Will Sprott – Keyboards / Vocals Chris Icasiano – Drums Abbey Blackwell – Bass
The Fat Angel Sings 