Alexia Avina, our resident ethereal songstress, is back today with her new single, "Cups".

If you're just now learning about Alexia, she's an American singer-songwriter previously based in Montreal, now living in rural Massachusetts, whose heavenly music is rooted in ambient, folk and dreampop traditions. She makes music that sounds minimal and arrhythmic, incorporating tempo-based looping, ethereal melodic hooks, beauty, spaciousness and restraint.

Our friends over at For The Rabbits are premiering the video, and had some sweet words for Alexia:

"Alexia’s lead vocal is accompanied by swirling electronics, cyclical guitar patterns, and percussion that goes from processed beats, to flourishes of cymbals and clipped vocal samples. The whole thing gives the track a stunning flow, meandering across the terrain like a twisting river, one moment rushing towards its destination, the next slowly drifting in beautiful aimlessness. A stunning reminder of Alexia’s talents, on this evidence Unearth might just have revealed the diamond lurking within this most intriguing of songwriters."

“Cups” is an introspection on the challenges of communication and setting boundaries in the wake of a break-up. In contrast to the dreamy layered soundscapes she often crafts, “Cups” shows off Alexia's versatility in creating a sharp and focused sound that lives in a vast compositional space. Her voice sings with conviction, building up to a bold and unflinching mantra: “You can say what you want to, but that won’t make you listen.”

The dreamy video above was filmed during Avina's last week living in Montreal, Quebec, and pairs slowness with movement in a way that feels like a poignant reflection on themes, places, and people that remain intimately familiar yet elusively far. "Shooting these scenes felt unbearably light, hopeful, and nostalgic for me," writes Avina. "On the one hand, I was looking back, trying to condense all the years of calling the city my home into something tangible to take with me, and on the other, I was looking forward to an entirely unknown future with none of the structure in place that I had spent 7 years building in Montreal."

"these days I often catch myself feeling as though I could reach around without a second thought, my hand extended gently, and touch through time all the way back into childhood, as easily as turning to pick up my forgotten keys on the way out." - Alexia

Alexia's new album Unearth will be released on CDR, cassette and digital platforms on October 9, 2020 jointly by us and Lost Map Records. You can pre-order your copy now.