Alanna Eileen - Artifice (2019) [Hi-Res]

‘Artifice’, produced by Alan Weatherhead, was released on February 10th, 2019. It was recorded at Montrose Recording, a studio located on a historic former tobacco plantation in Richmond, Virginia.

Eileen flew to the US to make the record in October 2018, traveling from Portland to New York, before catching a Greyhound down to Virginia to spend ten days working at Montrose.

Wild deer graced the tree-laden outskirts of the property, home to many vintage instruments and gear, including a 1969 Flickinger console formerly owned by Mark Linkous.

The Flickinger was used on such Sparklehorse records as ‘Dreamt for Lightyears in the Belly of a Mountain’. As an avid fan of Linkous’s work, Eileen valued the opportunity to record ‘Artifice’ on the console, working alongside engineer Alan Weatherhead, who had previously recorded and toured with Linkous himself. Weatherhead had also worked on ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’, a meaningful record for Eileen. He incorporated some of the same samples used on ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ into the production of ‘Artifice’.

The album, released as an eight track EP, consists of songs written over a two year period, during which time the Australian-born musician re-located to New Zealand, her current base.