View basket “Natural Progressions (cut out)” has been added to your basket. 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 Abba GOLD – Gold LP Rock And Pop | UMC | 180g, 2LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 23rd September 2022 £39.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Abba GOLD – Gold LP £39.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: UMC SKU: 7762921 Formats: 180g, 2LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 23rd September 2022 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Federale All The Colours Of The Dark Rock And Pop | Death Waltz | 180g, 1LP, Includes Download Code Released 2nd December 2016 £32.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Federale All The Colours Of The Dark £32.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Death Waltz SKU: DWO17 Formats: 180g, 1LP, Includes Download Code Released Date: 2nd December 2016 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Pete Astor Time On Earth Rock And Pop | Tapete | 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 7th October 2022 £24.00 Select options Pete Astor Time On Earth £24.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Tapete Formats: 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 7th October 2022 Read More Select options View Product Quick View Def Leppard The Vinyl Boxset: Volume Three Rock And Pop | Mercury | 9LP, Box Set Released 11th June 2021 £163.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Def Leppard The Vinyl Boxset: Volume Three £163.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Mercury SKU: 818002 Formats: 9LP, Box Set Released Date: 11th June 2021 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Bryan Adams Shine A Light Rock And Pop | Polydor | 180g, 1LP, Includes Download Code Released 27th February 2019 £18.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Bryan Adams Shine A Light £18.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Polydor SKU: 6788539 Formats: 180g, 1LP, Includes Download Code Released Date: 27th February 2019 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Monkees, The Christmas Party Rock And Pop | Rhino | 180g, 1LP Released 13th September 2019 £20.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Monkees, The Christmas Party £20.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Rhino SKU: 0603497856640 Formats: 180g, 1LP Released Date: 13th September 2019 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Embrace Love Is A Basic Need Rock And Pop | Cooking Vinyl | 1LP Released 9th March 2018 £22.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Embrace Love Is A Basic Need £22.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Cooking Vinyl SKU: COOKLP692 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 9th March 2018 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View PJ Harvey 4-Track Demos Rock And Pop | Island | 180g, 1LP, Includes Download Code Released 21st August 2020 £21.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders PJ Harvey 4-Track Demos £21.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Island SKU: 0851113 Formats: 180g, 1LP, Includes Download Code Released Date: 21st August 2020 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View New Order True Faith Remix (2023 Remaster) Rock And Pop | Warner Music | 12", Single Released 10th November 2023 £18.00 Add to basket Reserve View Reservations New Order True Faith Remix (2023 Remaster) £18.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Warner Music SKU: 5054197635717 Formats: 12", Single Released Date: 10th November 2023 Reserve View Reservations Read More Add to basket View Product Quick View Cyndi Lauper True Colours Rock And Pop | Mobile Fidelity Silver Label | 180g, 1LP Released 27th May 2015 £45.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Cyndi Lauper True Colours £45.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Mobile Fidelity Silver Label SKU: MOFI1028 Formats: 180g, 1LP Released Date: 27th May 2015 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders See more in Rock And Pop Start again
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