Slow Burn by Maya Keren
"It’s rare. Does not happen every day. Wonderful when it does. To be surprised. To be surprised and startled by beauty. Unexpected. It can still happen. Maya’s music takes me to a place I’ve never been. A place I’d like to be. I want to stay there for a while and see what’s happening. It’s real. This music gives me hope. The future. There is still wonder in the world. It’s true. Thank you Maya.” - Bill Frisell
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Slow Burn emerged from a period of intense change, which sometimes I faced with open arms, and other times fought with relentlessly. In so many ways, I had to let go of what was deeply beloved to me and see what was left, and what might come in the wake. These past two years tested my faith: in some sense of God, in human nature, in myself and my hopes and dreams. I feel humbled.
I left this album with both a clearer and crueler eye. Often against my own will and conscious experience, these songs reflected a deeper trust and patience in myself and the path I have been called to take. (The fact that songs emerge with separate lives and personalities from their songwriters, like children individuating from their parents, never ceases to amaze me.) This album feels like the most honest representation of all my musical loves yet, and the clearest I’ve been able to express myself through the sprawl of the mind, paper, instrument, and DAW. I hope it lands true.
Love and gratitude to all the people who shaped and co-parented this album. Thank you to Cami and Claire for your careful input and fierce encouragement throughout the entire process.
Thank you to Eden, Isa, Lesley, Maya, Jeff, Akiva, and Vic, for being early listeners and for leaving your mark on the music in ways big and small. Thank you to everyone on Bandcamp who bought the demos as I archived them, giving me the confidence to keep on writing. Thank you to everyone who offered support after the apartment fire that Claire and I experienced three songs into the making of this album. Without you, I would not have been able to finish this project.
Thank you to Andrea for mixing and mastering with so much sensitivity, and Mariquitx and Vic for their stunning contributions towards the album art.
Thank you for listening.
Tracklist
| 1. | Keep My Eyes (Open) | 2:28 |
| 2. | Over and Over Again | |
| 3. | Sleeping In A Dream | |
| 4. | Morning | |
| 5. | Enough | |
| 6. | Interlude - the lake | |
| 7. | Slow Burning Fold | |
| 8. | Ghost | |
| 9. | Secret | |
| 10. | Ricochet | |
Credits
Writing and production - Maya Keren
Mixing - Maya Keren and Andrea Schiavelli
Mastering - Andrea Schiavelli
Album art latex sculpture - Mariquitx
Album art photography - Vic Panata
Album art collage - Maya Keren
Recorded in my jade studio in PLG, Liat’s apartment in Fort Greene, my lilac studio that is no longer in Claire’s apartment, and my childhood home in Wyndmoor, PA.
"Ricochet" carries the spirit of a song by isabel crespo pardo called "sigo dando pasos"
"Secret" begins with a voice memo from Claire Dickson
The piano from "Sleeping In A Dream" was recorded on the Una Corda at Figure 8 Recordings with generosity from Shahzad Ismaily
