Kevin Bronson on May 29th, 2020

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“It feels like we are living in that science fiction ‘end of the world’ that we have only seen play out in the movies,” says Alina Bea, whose dynamic new album “You Will Learn” came out today. Check it out, along with her lockdown work-arounds, in today’s QUARANTUNES.

THE LATEST FROM ALINA BEA

Avant-pop artist Alina Cutrono, reverting to her artist name Alina Bea after releasing an album as part of the duo SILENTSHOUT in 2019, today released her debut full-length, “You Will Learn.”

It thrums with the sonic spirit of iconic artists such as Bjork, Kate Bush and any number of experimentalists who answered to the same Muse. “You Will Learn” was made with her SILENTSHOUT collaborator, songwriter-producer Theo Karon, and was mixed by Sonny DiPerri. It marries acoustic and electronic instrumentation — synths, loops and vocoded effects commingle with piano, live strings and Bea’s soaring, swooping vocals — and features contributions from Beth Goodfellow, Devin Hoff, Thor Harris, Dina Maccabee and Ben Babbitt, among others.

Importantly, “You Will Learn” feels like a necessary, urgent cry for empathy and clarity in a world that started slipping into chaos around the time of the 2016 election. “I was imagining the impending apocalypse that I feared was inevitable,” Alina Bea says of the metamorphosis of the songs. “Right now, for many of us, it feels like we are living in that science fiction ‘end of the world’ that we have only seen play out in the movies.”

Those changes coincided with some of her own life changes — throughout “You Will Learn’s” sonic complexities, there is a thread of self-realization. “Learning about yourself and the world is not a pretty or fun process,” she says. “… But there is hope and solidarity in these discoveries, as well. There is sublime beauty and terrible awe.”

The video for “Split at the Seams” came out in April. “You Will Learn” is available on Bandcamp.

HOW ARE YOU HOLDING UP AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MANAGE THE ‘STAY AT HOME’ EDICT?

I am doing OK, though I know I am lucky to be able to say that. I am glad that I’ve had the album release to focus on. I have also been taking dance classes on Zoom almost every day, which is significantly more training than I’ve had since I was a teenager! I normally wouldn’t have this much time to devote to my dancing, so it’s a small silver lining that I am grateful for. Also, I spent several weeks working on a music video for which my partner and I built a bunch of miniatures out of cardboard and paper. We filmed them and rear projected the footage to place me in the tiny scenery. Shot the entire thing in my apartment. That was a really fun project that kept us occupied for a while. It’s coming out in a few weeks.

WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO WHEN THIS IS OVER?

So many things! Hugging my friends, going to the movies, dressing up to go to dinner, taking dance class in person, sweating in a room full of people, going to shows. Singing around other people. Being able to go outside without fear.

ANYTHING WE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THIS PLAYLIST?

These are songs that I have had on repeat lately. I have mostly been wanting to listen to pretty downtempo stuff. Just purely beautiful and melancholy, nostalgic, gushy-heart music that makes me feel all the feelings. But there are a few bangers thrown in there, too. Also, I realized halfway through making this playlist that all the songs I was picking were by women or non-binary folks, so I decided to stick with the theme. The vast majority of the music I connect with is made by them, anyway.