Alexa Wilding

New York songbird Alexa Wilding just wrapped Coral Dust, the follow-up to her 2009 self-titled debut. Produced by Tim Foljahn (who has collaborated with Cat Power, Thurston Moore, the late Townes Van Zandt) and mixed by Television’s Fred Smith, the album’s lush and atmospheric expanse is an electrifying progression from Wilding’s dark acoustic noir. As Foljahn puts it, “The first record is a sweet, dirty delight in sparky darkness. The new one is a whole other thing: vistas of space dust and crystal cliffs.” While the songs are still rooted in Wilding and Foljahn’s intricate call-and-response guitar play, room has been made for deep sea bells, airy synths, and mischievous percussion, courtesy of Brooklyn drummer, Brian Kantor (Higgins, Vetiver). Wilding reigns over these dreamy equations with warm, layered vocals, weaving her tales with self-possession. "Coral Dust is my Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, " she laughs, “it’s deep sea diving for the faint of heart.”

After the self-release of her eponymous first album, featuring the fan favorite single, “Black Diamond Day,” Wilding was named “one of music’s hippest chicks” (NY Post) alongside Florence and the Machine and Juliette Lewis, and as one to watch in Nylon, Page Six, Dossier, Daily Candy, and Time Out amongst others. Her music was brought to a national level last summer when she joined gal pals, Au Revoir Simone, on a US tour (to rave reviews), and overseas with her collaborations with Scandinavian fashion label, IVANAhelsinki. Wilding began her career singing and playing synths with Int’l Shades, the art-psych rock project of ex-Pussy Gallore/Sonic Youth drummer, Bob Bert, and Live Skull’s Mark C, opening for indie heavy-weights such as Mudhoney, Genesis P’Orridge and Kid Congo.

RECENT PRESS HIGHLIGHTS

“Some people are born for it.” NYLON, Band Crush

“…a certain kind of Victorian-era fanciness is precisely what sets her singing and strumming apart from that of the MySpace masses.” VILLAGE VOICE

“One of music’s hippest chicks.” NY POST

“Alexa Wilding is a singular singer-songwriter who places dreamy fables over a dark-tinged spray of watercolor sounds on her self-titled EP.” TIME OUT NY

“In a pixie and naïf soaked sonic world, you could be forgiven for thinking there’s little room left for another chanteuse. But Alexa Wilding combines the haunting qualities of The Child Ballads with a Leonard Cohenian sense of wordplay and there’s some rock ‘n’ roll in there too-for a while Wilding played with former Sonic Youth drummer Bob Bert in Int’l Shades. Bottom Line: Sometimes you need just a little dainty comfort to stop the bleeding in your ears.” NY PRESS

SUMMER 2010 US TOUR W/ AU REVOIR SIMONE: PRESS HIGHLIGHTS

“On stage, Wilding is the epitome of the word “endearing.” It’s only her – adorned in a black dress – strumming away on her guitar (or for a few tunes, tinkering away at the keyboard), her voice accompanying the acoustics as sweetly and smoothly as melted chocolate.” ROCKSCOPE, LA

“Her compelling lyrics and faint guitar stroking, combined with a hint of the hardness of rock ’n’ roll, offered a listening experience that was as unique as the songstress herself.” SANTA BARBARA INDEPENDENT

“Would Alexa Wilding’s entrancing folk be just as gently hypnotic if she had a cardboard box for a face? Her sweet voice is a delicate, powerful instrument with enough character to set it apart…..So yes: Wilding may not need her striking looks, but they certainly don’t hurt.” SAN FRANCISCO WEEKLY

“Alexa’s voice filled the room with each of her tracks, mostly about characters in New York or missing New York.” PANIC MANUAL, TORONTO

“Her beautiful tunes were filled with heartfelt lyrics, expert guitar plucking, and an angelic voice that’s as near to perfection as you can ask for. Her presence on stage makes the whole experience feel that much more intimate…as if it were just her singing to only to you in the room.” MEET YOU AT THE SHOW, MONTREAL

“She is our heat antidote, our summer hiatus, our white-puckered landscape. Alexa Wilding sings to a powdery hillside, her music eternal and wintry cold. Her voice, bewitching in its chill, makes her ever powerful and she reigns over the hardened world at her feet.” FOUND WAVES, BOSTON + BOSTON WEEKLY PICK!

xoxo