Stream: Alyeska, ‘Medicine River’

Kevin Bronson on September 23rd, 2015

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At first under her own name and then fronting the band Alyeska, teenager Alaska Reid has cultivated an earnest, beyond-her-years aesthetic, first with Laurel Canyonesque folk songs and now moving into indie-rock. Her new single “Medicine River,” released Friday, is a revelation; it suggests Laura Marling fronting dialed-back Sunny Day Real Estate. Reid, working with drummer Ben Spear and bassist Emil Amos, recorded the song in New York City during a session with noted indie producer John Agnello (Kurt Vile, Okkervil River, Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth, the Hold Steady). Reid says she initially contacted Agnello on Facebook and convinced him to work with her. “Medicine River” and its woozy, world-weary vocals embody the vastness of Reid’s home state — she’s a small-town Montana girl, and this single is perfect for long nights under the Big Sky.

||| Stream: “Medicine River”