Lael Neale Shares New Single “Electricity (+Official Video)”

Today, Lael Neale is sharing the sparkling official video for “Electricity,” a new song available now worldwide on all DSPs from Sub Pop.
 
“Electricity” was written and composed by Neale and produced and arranged by longtime creative collaborator Guy Blakeslee. The video was directed by Neale, and features cinematography by Chance Gray, with movement direction and choreography by Sandi Denton and a performance by the Rated Z Dancers.
 
Neale says, “I wrote the song during an ice storm a couple of winters ago that caused a 5-day power outage while I was living on my family’s farm in Virginia. I experienced intense withdrawal from all these things we’ve come to depend on so heavily in our modern life - like lighting, heat, refrigeration, and entertainment. I felt a range of sensations from utter emptiness to complete liberation.  I realized we’re essentially electrified beings now, but through unplugging entirely we have a chance to gain a new perspective and reset ourselves.”
 
Lael Neale will hit the road for a string of dates supporting Ben Howard (August 10th-15th) and an appearance at San Francisco’s Outside Lands (August 11th). Neale, a painter, will have a solo art show titled “Altogether Stranger,” held at AndPens Gallery in Eagle Rock, CA, on Friday, August 2nd. The current list of dates are below, and tickets for these shows are on sale now.
 

Fri. Aug. 2 - Eagle Rock, CA - AndPens Gallery (“Altogether Stranger” Solo Painting Show)
Sat. Aug. 3 - San Pedro, CA - Genuine Souvenirs Festival
Sat. Aug. 10 - Los Angeles, CA - The United Theater on Broadway *
Sun. Aug. 11 - San Francisco, CA - Outside Lands Festival
Tue. Aug. 13 - Portland, OR - Roseland Theater *
Wed. Aug. 14 - Seattle, WA - Moore Theatre *
Thu. Aug 15 - Vancouver, BC - Queen Elizabeth Theatre *
 
* w/ Ben Howard

 
Neale’s most recent full-length is the beguiling Star Eaters Delight, her second album released in April 2023. The album reveals an expansion of Neale’s sonic collaboration with producer and accompanist Guy Blakeslee and arrives on the heels of her Sub Pop debut Acquainted With Night, which won international acclaim for its crystalline vocals, clever songwriting, and excellent use of Omnichord to build a world of beautiful reveries.
 
Forged in isolation, Star Eaters Delight is a vehicle for returning, not just to civilization, but to celebration. She explains: “The unbroken silences on the farm compelled me to break them with sound. This album is louder and more external, calling out to the world.”
 
Lael Neale’s Star Eaters Delight, is also available now from Sub Pop.
 
What people are saying about Lael Neale:
“A unique, boldly weird proposition, and one that proudly carries the faint hint of tractor grease. Half of it comes on like cult 70s folk artist Karen Dalton hanging out with the Velvet Underground and Suicide, while the rest offers somewhat more modern balladry, placing her more in the world of Angel Olsen and Cat Power.” - THE GUARDIAN
 
“Spellbinding” ★★★★★ - SHINDIG!
 
“There’s something a little haunting about her voice, it helps too that she writes primarily on the Omnichord, which has a little bit of spookiness built into it. But this is kind of an album for Luddites about how to exist in a world that demands too much of your attention and how you can be intentional about the way you move through it. It was recorded on cassette, which I love because it brings a real warmth to it, and a real presence of being in the room, which I think really delivers that message home.” “New Music Friday: The Best Releases Out April 21st” - NPR MUSIC
 
“…An excellent new album” - STEREOGUM
 
“Neale has placed her trust in life’s meanders—and in its source—and the result is her best work yet: a golden mean between experimentation and pop, lo-fi and hi-fi, vitality and rest.” - PASTE
 
“Neale is imaginative, but she’s steeped in songwriting craft and she knows her way round a whopping chorus.” ★★★★ - MOJO
 
“Star Eater’s Delight…was recorded on cassette, and tape hiss acts like a third band member here. She sings of flowers, rivers, seas, and trees; holy water, perfect deaths; bells of time, patience, and the speed of medicine. Carried by words and rhythm, she’s barreling towards something just beyond the horizon.” - AQUARIUM DRUNKARD
 
“Neale has put together a tight package of an album with no stray notes but one also brimming with a sly multitude of ideas. Kudos to Neale for not playing it safe and simultaneously doing something wholly different than anyone else out there.”
9/10 - UNDER THE RADAR
 
“This collection of versatile songs acts as a tour of different neighborhoods in the beautifully smeary nocturnal dream world Neale began building on her last album.” ★★★★ - ALL MUSIC
 
“A collection of songs with the weight and conviction of hymns. Some have a more spare, lo-fi feel, with Neale’s voice accompanied by vintage instruments, including her signature mellotron, but the real centerpiece is the eight-minute “In Verona,” which brings a real sense of urgency to its invocations of Shakespeare.” “Notable Releases of the Week” - BROOKLYN VEGAN