La Vita Nuova Maria McKee SKU: AFAR001LP Barcode: 809236160119 21.00 £21.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Afar Records Released Date: 19th June 2020 Buying Format: 2LP Out of stock Back Order Add to your Wishlist Description Product Info Ardent, anglophilic, anachronistic, luddite/maximalist and baroque, ‘La Vita Nuova’ was written as an elegy to desire. Upon its completion it became a conjuring. Candid and passionate, Maria McKee has quite simply, had a beatific awakening and in a crescendo of prose, her new album ‘La Vita Nuova’ unlocks this story, sketching out a momentous and transformative time in her life that started decades ago when she sang in her living room by the fire with her older brother, the late, great musical innovator Bryan MacLean, co-founder, (along with Arthur Lee), of the seminal LA band LOVE. Along the way she retooled punk and country as the lead singer of pioneering Americana band Lone Justice, released a string of evocative and eclectic solo records, wrote chart-topping hits and inspired the devotion of a loyal cultish fan base before seemingly disappearing… It’s been thirteen years since her last studio album ‘Late December’ which was released in 2007. ‘La Vita Nuova’ is a homage to Dante’s opus on unrequited love. Though the unconscious impetus for making this album was to process the shock of one of McKee’s most prodigious personal challenges thus far, the dissolution and reinvention of her marriage, the songs are progressive and lyrically dense. The production is orchestral and operatic and takes it cues from McKee’s lexicon of icons – John Cale, Scott Walker and David Bowie. And so, it’s a conversation that demands a level of deep concentration. One may need to listen more than once to connect with the confessional narrative that is held in subtext and to understand that within the lines of prose the “muse”, or “Beatrice” of the album is also a heart-breaking phantom of McKee’s younger, idealistic self. And a metaphor for youth in general. As reflected in the haunting, cascading melodic strains of the Joni Mitchell hinted “I Should Have Looked Away” and the poignant, nostalgic wistfulness of lead track “Effigy of Salt”. McKee has also since moved to London. The album seems to herald this move as there are nods to Sandy Denny, Kate Bush and English composers and poets McKee admires such as Ralph Vaughn Williams, Keats and Swinburne whose work she had immersed herself in while writing the album. McKee’s professed Spiritual Father, William Blake is name-checked on the track ‘Right Down To The Heart of London’, a love letter to the psychogeography of McKee’s expatriate home. ‘Ceann Bró’ was inspired by the astral projected liaisons between William Butler Yeats and Maud Gonne on the westernmost point of Ireland as McKee is an initiate of an occult lodge in the tradition of Yeats’ and Gonne’s The Hermetic Order of The Golden Dawn. The lyrics in ‘Page Of Cups’ flirt with the “unexpected, surprising muse” figure in the minor Tarot arcana. The track recalls ‘Forever Changes’-era Love as does ‘I Just Want To Know That You’re Alright’. Both are heavily influenced by brother Bryan MacLean. It would be easy to believe that ‘La Vita Nuova’ indeed could have been “channelled” as McKee eludes to the songs descending “like manna from the throne” in the lyrics for ‘Courage’. The nineteen-piece orchestral arrangements were composed and arranged by McKee who has had no formal classical training and doesn’t read a note of music. But really that is the nature of creative catharsis which generally operates with a will of its own. Artist Maria McKee Genre Rock And Pop Label Afar Records Buying Options 2LP Format 2LP Condition New Country UK Track Listings Side A: A1 Effigy Of Salt A2 Page Of Cups A3 Let Me Forget A4 I Should Have Looked Away Side B: B1 Right Down To The Heart Of London B2 La Vita Nuova B3 Little Beast Side C: C1 Courage C2 Ceann Bró C3 The Last Boy Side D: D1 I Never Asked D2 I Just Want To Know That You're Alright D3 Weatherspace D4 However Worn Share this On Facebook On Twitter Via Email More from Maria McKee and more from Rock And Pop View Product Quick View Maria McKee Late December/ Live Acoustic – RSD 2023 Rock And Pop | Afar Records | 1LP Released 22nd April 2023 £27.00 Add to basket Reserve View Reservations Maria McKee Late December/ Live Acoustic – RSD 2023 £27.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Afar Records SKU: AFAR006LP Formats: 1LP Released Date: 22nd April 2023 Reserve View Reservations Read More Add to basket View Product Quick View Prince The Hits 1 Rock And Pop | Legacy | 2LP Released 30th November 2022 £50.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Prince The Hits 1 £50.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Legacy SKU: ALEG 34113 Formats: 2LP Released Date: 30th November 2022 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Mothers When You Walk A Long Distance You Are Tired Rock And Pop | Wichita | 1LP, Includes Download Code Released 23rd February 2016 £18.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Mothers When You Walk A Long Distance You Are Tired £18.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Wichita SKU: WEBB470LP Formats: 1LP, Includes Download Code Released Date: 23rd February 2016 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Tina Turner Simply The Best Rock And Pop | Warner Music | 2LP Released 22nd November 2019 £28.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Tina Turner Simply The Best £28.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Warner Music SKU: 0190295378134 Formats: 2LP Released Date: 22nd November 2019 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Dennis Wilson Pacific Ocean Blue Rock And Pop | Music On Vinyl | 180g, 1LP Released 14th June 2010 £28.00 Add to basket Reserve View Reservations Dennis Wilson Pacific Ocean Blue £28.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Music On Vinyl SKU: MOVLP096 Formats: 180g, 1LP Released Date: 14th June 2010 Reserve View Reservations Read More Add to basket View Product Quick View James Taylor Never Die Young Rock And Pop | Music On Vinyl | 180g, 1LP, Includes Insert Released 12th May 2014 £19.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders James Taylor Never Die Young £19.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Music On Vinyl SKU: MOVLP1025 Formats: 180g, 1LP, Includes Insert Released Date: 12th May 2014 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Manfred Mann's Earth Band Somewhere in Afrika Rock And Pop | Creature Music | 1LP Released 5th February 2018 £21.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Manfred Mann's Earth Band Somewhere in Afrika £21.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Creature Music SKU: MANNLP013 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 5th February 2018 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Shygirl Nymph Rock And Pop | Because Music | 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 30th September 2022 £21.00 - £23.00 Select options Shygirl Nymph £21.00 - £23.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Because Music Formats: 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 30th September 2022 Read More Select options View Product Quick View Bauhaus The Skys Gone Out Rock And Pop | Beggars Banquet | 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 20th November 2018 £16.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Bauhaus The Skys Gone Out £16.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Beggars Banquet SKU: BBQ2097LPX Formats: 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 20th November 2018 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Lewis Capaldi Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent Rock And Pop | Virgin EMI | 1LP, Gatefold Sleeve Released 17th May 2019 £18.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Lewis Capaldi Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent £18.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Virgin EMI SKU: 7742514 Formats: 1LP, Gatefold Sleeve Released Date: 17th May 2019 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Racontwoers, The Live At Third Man Rock And Pop | Third Man Records | 1LP Released 15th June 2015 £14.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Racontwoers, The Live At Third Man £14.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Third Man Records SKU: ATMR039 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 15th June 2015 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders See more in Rock And Pop Start again
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