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Sola Monday: The Swing Festival

Another triumph for Dunedin music – this doesn’t sound like Dunedin at all. Sola Monday is a truly unique singer songwriter who almost defies characterisation. She has a similar vocal quality to Macy Gray or Alanis Morrisette, but with a predominantly ‘folky’ acoustic sound. Not that these 12 song are alike – quite the contrary. We have ambient, dark rock numbers, uptempo light pop, beautiful strings and flutes, accordion, omnichord, mandolin… even a country tune complete with pedal steel guitar! Although Sola wrote the music and wonderful lyrics, co-produced (with Bryan Spittle) and plays some guitar and keyboards, one must make mention of the contributions of Craig Monk. Monk plays guitars and bass, as well as arranging and performing much of the strings on the album. Drummer Stefan Neville also makes a strong contribution to the entire album. Julia Deans even makes an appearance on Swallow. The album is beautifully produced and features a professional booklet complete with all lyrics and gorgeous photography. Out on Arclife. http://coffee.co.nz/sola

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