Lea Thomas, a singer-songwriter from Hawaii, currently based in New York, has a new album on the way, a follow-up to 2021’s ‘Mirrors to the Sun’. Here we have the stunning first single from the forthcoming record. At once subtle and yet powerful, understated yet grand and expansive, ‘The Gift’ is a haunting song that remains with you after listening. Produced by Lea Thomas and John Thayer, the sound is cinematic, ambient and spacious. Directed and edited by Dave Yim, the video is itself a breathtakingly beautiful piece of art. It is superbly shot and atmospheric, reinforcing the mood of the music.
Thomas says of the song: “From the moment I wrote the opening line of The Gift, “Let’s go for a walk,” I knew I wanted it to be the first words, someone would hear on this album. The act is simple, the invitation is open, and no one knows what mysteries might be revealed along the path. I moved from New York City to a small town in the Catskills a few years ago, and daily walks through the landscape have become an important ritual. One of my favourite trails starts in an open meadow and winds into the woods, echoed in the arch of this video. The song follows a similar path, from light to dark, day to night, known to unknown. It’s about getting quiet enough to be a better listener, and the psychedelic slow-core revelation that finds me when I’m looking up at a tall stand of trees, awestruck and fully present.”
Thomas’s environmental-folk is truly absorbing – check it out.
