Lana De Angelis – I Stay Indoors

Lana De Angelis has been
performing in Sydney since she was
14! She cites her influences as Tori Amos, Ani di Franco and Jewel.
Aged 17, 6 years ago, she
released her first ep, The Killing Jar
and she has found time to play with
a band called Stilzkin.
With her second release De
Angelis has resisted the temptation
to over produce or to fill the
recording with lots of overdubs or
instrumentation. Prominent on this
recording is the upright bass playing
of Jonathan Zwartz.
This provides an earthy yet
appropriate background for De
Angelis’ at times, shrill, high
pitched voice. The only other
instrumentation is the sax playing
of Jason Thorn. Lana also plays
acoustic guitar.
De Angelis has a voice that at
times resembles Kate Miller-Heike’s,
full of vibrato with a large range: it
takes a bit to get used to, but her
voice is also what attracted my
attention on first listen.
The cd kicks off with the title
track, a ballad that highlights Lana’s
voice, as it croons, soars, and
attacks my senses.
Track 2, “Monday” is a jazzy
inspired account of one’s plans to
improve oneself and one’s lifestyle
to change. It has some changes
of tempo and introduces the
saxophone for the first time.
“Obsession” is more urgent as it
describes Lana’s obsession with a
person and ways she imagines she
can get closer to them all the time
that would provide plenty of ideas for a stalker!
“The Slow Unravelling” is about
the slow process of coming to terms
with the end of a relationship.
The last song, “Umbrella” is
a sensitive song about sadness,
protecting the heart from rain, where
the simple arrangement is just
acoustic guitar and the mournful
sax.