Following on from her acclaimed second solo album “Who The Power”, released last August, Liela Moss today announces Who The Power (Reformed). Released 26th March via Bella Union, the album is a full remix version of “Who The Power” by some of Liela’s close friends, collaborators, and artists she admires. To mark the announcement Moss has shared two tracks from the album. James Lavelle’s UNKLE place ‘Atoms At Me’ firmly in the club – listen HERE - whilst Berlin-based electronic artist Emika takes “White Feather” into a minimalist arena, conjuring up Steve Reich and Max Richter. Listen HERE.
Other remixers involved include Jehnny Beth collaborator and producer Johnny Hostile who gives ‘The Individual’ a brooding building cinematic twist while The Horrors’ Tom Furse takes ‘Battlefield’ into spinning electronic undercurrents. Dhani Harrison throws fuzz and glitch at ‘Suako’ and Moss’s producer Toby Butler rebuilds ‘Watching The Wolf’ with dark menace under his IYEARA moniker. Bella Union’s own Simon Raymonde gives album closer ‘Stolen Careful’ a complete country soul-overhaul, conversely taking the electronic out, and putting the band back in with his Lost Horizons project.
Other remixes include Berlin’s Future Beat Alliance taking on album opener ‘Turn Your Back Around’ with hypnotic beats, producer Verlos giving ‘Always Sliding’ a minimalist electronic wooze, and Bella Union label mates Penelope Isles throwing lo-fi drums and fuzz at ‘Nummah.’
Of the album Liela Moss says: “The process of connecting with other artists who are my friends, or people whose work I admire, during a time of physical and creative restriction was massively energising, and a privilege that I think could only have happened because of the insane reality that was occurring, that musicians were at home with nowhere to tour. With UNKLE, I had been missing their live shows so much and wanted to feel connected to the tribe. Calling James and reminiscing about the last tour we’d done across thousands of miles in Russia, I just wanted him to take my track and alter its personality, reorganise it so it would be a grand, danceable soundtrack to some of his mad live visuals. In the case of Emika, it was she who found me, really. A friend of hers kept encouraging both of us to work together. We had been yearning for the spirit of collaboration to materialise during the pandemic, and we were drawn towards each other’s work to exchange what we had to give. She is classically trained, digitally skilled to the max, insanely talented… I sang on some of her new material and she remixed my track. A total privilege.”
Who The Power’s choruses ascend the stratosphere, the percussion booms and melodies have a stadium-friendly reach.” MOJO
“There’s an urgency to these 10 songs, with Moss embracing the 80s goth sounds recently favoured by Sharon Van Etten and Angel Olsen, with propulsive electronic beats underpinning her biting lyrics. It feels like a very contemporary album, succinctly unpicking our shared worries over the state of the world.” Uncut – 7/10
“Her second album’s a cracker. It’s got tunes like gangbusters, it’s got heavy-duty synths, it’s got drama, it’s got thumping great drumbeats… In short, it lives up to it’s title.” Metro
“Turn Your Back Around is a fantastic opener, racing along over firework drums, while album closer Suako is driven by propulsive beats and jittery synths. The new digital backdrop suits a voice that could never be drowned out.” Evening Standard
“The lead singer of The Duke Spirit returns with her second solo album… and what a collection of synth-driven mini-dramas it is.” The Sun – 4 stars ****
“A strong sense of urgency and emotional directness drives the second solo outing from the Duke Spirit frontwoman… A striking blend of self-confidence and impassioned, uncompromising insights.” Daily Mirror
“The 10 songs here are powerful, moving and lyrically insightful… An accomplished album.” HiFi Choice – 4 stars ****
Who The Power (Reformed) artwork and tracklist:
1. Turn Your Back Around (Future Beat Alliance remix)
2. Watching The Wolf (IYEARA remix)
3. Atoms At Me (UNKLE remix)
4. Always Sliding (Verlos remix)
5. The Individual (Johnny Hostile remix)
6. White Feather (Emika remix)
7. Battlefield (Tom Furse remix)
8. Nummah (Penelope Isles remix)
9. Suako (Dhani Harrison remix)
10. Stolen Careful (Lost Horizons rework)