Los Angeles – From the very beginning, Adrien Reju had a specific thematic vision for her debut full-length. Unconventional Love Songs was the title Reju chose for her Pledgemusic.com fundraising drive and it runs as a common thread on the tracks that make up Strange Love and the Secret Language. The Woodstock, NY based singer songwriter fuses contemporary indie pop with classic folk in a manner quite similar to her influences, such as Gillian Welch and Neko Case.
Reju has been heavily involved with the independent music scene in two locations that are as different as you can get; she currently resides in the Upstate New York countryside of Woodstock, but she emerged onto the scene among the post-industrial big-city grit of Philadelphia, PA and grew up in New York City.
On the decision to abandon “Unconventional Love Songs” as an album title (although not as an album theme), Reju explains that the former name sounded a bit too “unartful” and obvious; Strange Love and the Secret Language has a bit of ambiguity that piques listeners’ interest. She elaborated that she chose the phrase “strange love” because stuck with the theme of unconventional love, while the phrase “secret language” represents the bond between people that love each other, whether that bond is romantic, platonic, or familial.
Reju makes the choice to dedicate the first half of Strange Love and the Secret Language solely to her cover songs. Fielding input on her cover choices from her donors, producers and engineers, and collaborator A.C. Newman, the selections range from the obscure (King Missile) to the ubiquitous (David Bowie, Prince).
The Bowie cover, “Soul Love” has been given some attention, but the cover that will turn the most heads is “Hemophiliac of Love”. Written by Stephen Tunney, aka Dogbowl of the quirky 80’s band King Missile, the track features A.C. Newman‘s iconic voice. Reju complements her collaborator as well as any of the co-vocalists in his super-group, The New Pornographers. Newman, a fellow “Woodstockian,” suggested the track for the album at her request because she knew he had a vast and eclectic musical collection.
The second half of the record is made up of original compositions. This half of the album is highlighted by the Bird and the Bee-esque “Last Call” and the jazzily shuffling “Moonlight”. While Reju says that “Last Call” was strongly influenced by the classic R&B of Sam Cooke, it has the kind of professionally modern production that clearly identifies its contemporariness.
The decision to split the record into two distinct halves stems from her desire to see it pressed on vinyl at some point. Even though the music industry has drifted away from the full-length album format, she still believes in the merits of a complete body of compositions. She toyed with the idea of releasing each half of the album as separate EPs, but decided they worked better together as a cohesive piece.
Reju has been on the road in support of her album all summer, and she comes to Los Angeles for a Record Release Show at The Hotel Café on Wednesday, August 5. She then heads to the Pacific Northwest for two appearances in Portland on August 7 and one in Seattle on August 9.
Keep an eye on Reju’s website for additional tour dates.
Photo of Adrien Reju by Shervin Lainez
Matt Matasci
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