To the uninitiated, Ashley Eriksson might be best known as the composer/voice behind Adventure Time’s gloriously ramshackle theme song (a.k.a “Christmas Island” by her other band LAKE). Despite the fragmented context that “Christmas Island” appears in during Adventure Time’s credits, the song is able to instantly create a distinct mood of alternately wistful nostalgia and joyfully innocent exuberance.
Eriksson’s ability to instantly evoke mood is prominently on display throughout her excellent forthcoming album Colours. It’s a delightful record of lo-fi chamber pop; the arrangements are inventive yet understated; and that magic K Records sheen permeates the production aesthetic. Throughout the album, Eriksson’s lyrics and vocals manage to maintain a similar sense of reassurance and melancholy that her most well-known song captures so well.
One of Colours’ many highlights is the the track “Mother Nature’s Promise,” which sounds a lot like something right off of Arthur Russell’s Calling Out of Context on record. However, in her new video series,”Ashley Eriksson’s Colours Olympia” (where Eriksson performs her songs on various pianos around Olympia, WA), Eriksson reduces this tune to a simple voice/piano number, and it proves to be just as effective as the recorded version. Like the appropriation of “Christmas Island” in Adventure Time, this reduction/reinterpretation of Eriksson’s music proves that her songs can immediately conjure mood and emotion regardless of their context and/or arrangement. Check out the video for “Mother Nature’s Promise” here:
Colours is out on July 16, but you can purchase a copy now via K Records.
• Ashley Eriksson: http://www.ashleyeriksson.com/
• K Records: www.krecs.com/
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