Portland, Oregon singer-songwriter Anna Tivel classifies her music with her own mash-up word “folkmericana”. Give her a listen and you’ll find this is a pretty damn accurate descriptor. Tivel’s voice is delicate and soothing yet confident when she sings of quiet love, big dreams and small town life. There is a stark beauty and vastness to her music that reflects the country she traverses for much of the year while traveling and playing gigs. She also is an artist who possesses a gift for crafting detailed narratives, which she presents as songs. In other words, Anna Tivel writes songs that demand the full attention of the listener, and it isn’t hard to give her that because her singing and writing seem to take power over you as they gently guide you through the worlds and characters that exist within them.
On May 20th, Anna Tivel will release her third full-length studio album Heroes Waking Up on Portland-based label Fluff and Gravy. The album was produced by Austin Nevins (Josh Ritter, Anais Mitchell, The Mountain Goats), who also contributes his guitar skills throughout. Nevins’ sparse twang adds nuance and textures to Tivel’s own acoustic picking, giving each song on the album more emotional depth and a even a touch of country at times. All of this can be heard on “Reverie”, which we are delighted to premiere on Glide Magazine. The song begins simply enough as Tivel paints a lyrical portrait of a deserted street and a character seeking meaning in it all. It all blossoms to life with the sweet harmonies of Jeffrey Martin and Moorea Masa, who compliment Tivel’s own chorus.
Reflecting on the meaning behind the song, Anna Tivel says, “‘Reverie’, to me, is a song about the beauty and the power of not knowing how things will go. A woman felt compelled to tell my fortune after a show once, said my relationship was bound to fail, among other things. It really threw me for a few days and I got to thinking about what a slippery thing the future is, what it means to believe in something before you know what it will become. Then I got to thinking how memories are so often colored by the same amber light, the same hope that we did things in a good and true way.”
Listen to Anna Tivel’s “Reverie”:
Heroes Waking Up will be released by Fluff and Gravy Records on May 20, 2016. For more music, info and tour dates check out annativel.com.
Cover photo credit: Chad Lanning
