New York, NY (January 24, 2019) – New York songwriter Taali, born Talia Billig, has announced her debut full length album I Am Here to be released March 22 via Rainbow Blonde Records. Today, she shares a new video for album track, “Los Angeles” – share via Youtube, watch via BlackBook – a resounding cry of freedom.
Taali fuses a beguiling mix of layered vocals, chamber pop and avant-electronica to directly address trauma, love, and identity. Shot by director/writer/actor Madelyn Deutch, the “Los Angeles” video is a visual of Taali’s reflective last day living in the city, filmed in her apartment and neighborhood market. Saying goodbye to people, patterns and cities
“In the winter of 2017 I moved to Los Angeles and it rained almost daily. For the first time in a decade, L.A. bloomed. And as the barren mountains flowered, I realized I could do the same,” says Taali. “I put aside my deep, frantic need for external validation, and replaced it with a budding inner strength.”
The entirety of I Am Here centers on themes of vulnerability, individuality, and triumph. Within the album, “Los Angeles” is a pivotal moment of reflection. Written in 15 minutes, the track came like a bolt of lightning from Taali’s soul, as an anthem for those considering taking a leap of faith and who may feel smothered by their need to feel validated by others. Once we learn that we already have everything we need within ourselves, it is not hard to let go.
Taali draws direct inspiration from the empowering Judaic culture passed down from her family, and the uplifting stories of the fierce women she surrounds herself with. The I Am Here album is corporeal. All the voices in every “choir” are Taali. There are claps, hand glides, and breaths, and the lyrics speak of blood and reclamation. It is an embrace of identity and ancestry, a communal journey to recovery, and the uncovering of secrets baked in by abuse, society, a culture, and herself.
“I grew up with these beautiful Judaic harmonies all around me, but for the longest time I left my heritage out of my music,” she says. “A good friend recently told me the best thing you can have in life is culture, and she was right. The more I make this music, the closer I feel to my ancestry and myself.”
A singer and songrwriter for various artists over the years, Taali eventually began writing tracks she wanted to keep. The very first of those songs was her proper introduction to the world – electropop female empowerment anthem “Hear You Now” – the video for which debuted video at Billboard. The I Am Here album represents over a decade of growth and community, and sees Taali inviting other artists to write for her the way she has for their records over the years, including a collaboration with José James on “Star”.
Taali is releasing I Am Here via her own Rainbow Blonde Records, a label she and José James co-founded with the ideal of an artist collective where every person, from artist to engineer, is a vital part of the story. Diving deeply into her love of community, storytelling and the road, she embarked on the #IAmHereTrip, a film, and photo-documented cross country road trip with José. Driving with a caravan of like-minded artists, each moment and location was spectacularly recorded, including three live videos in White Sands, The Blue Ridge Mountains, and Route66/Tulsa. The trip spanned coasts; from desert sands to Memphis trolley-cars to Blue Ridge Mountain snowfall, finally re-planting her roots into her home of 11 years, Manhattan, with a record launch party at the W Times Square. The trip was officially partnered and sponsored by Cadillac, W Hotels, Hard Rock Hotels, and others. Stay tuned for more exciting announcements on the horizon.
I Am Here Track Listing:
- Release
- I Held My Breath
- Hear You Now
- I Have Seen it For Myself
- Let The Light In
- Star (feat. José James)
- For Michal
- Right Sized
- Los Angeles
- A Lack Of Color
- Peace Be Upon You
- Hope Of My Own
- Erev Shel Shoshanim
- Plunge
- I’ll Meet You
https://www.taalimusic.com/
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https://www.facebook.com/musictaali/
https://twitter.com/taalitweets
https://www.rainbowblonderecords.com/