Saved my life...
author: Matt W
I had been listening to this album non-stop for about week when I was in a head on collision. Due to my fascination with this musical creation, I was oblivious to the jeep crossing into my lane and fully relaxed upon impact. I walked away with only bruises though both vehicles were totaled.
Alexandra Rising is a raw, tantalizing, thought provoking exercise in soulful futility. A caressing experience.
And it might just save your life…
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A Beautiful Singer-Songwriter Album
author: Kara Towles
Alexandra Rising combines everything you could love about a singer-songwriter in one absolute treat of a debut album. Leia Manuel offers the pop genre a rich, clear alto voice the like of which one often has to go seeking in the aisles of jazz. Her sweeping, often dramatic instrumentation is coupled with raw, vulnerable lyrics that deliver the unexpected in their imagery. She embraces the poetic absolutely, entangling her voice in an ironic twist of dark sarcasm and poignant romanticism reminiscent of the writing of Dorothy Parker.
To add to the "recommended if you like" list, I would say: Lisa Loeb, Sarah McLachlan, Carole King, Jewel (around the "Spirit"/"This Way" era), Rufus Wainwright (redundant, I know), Simon & Garfunkel
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Very talented vocalist and songwriter
author: Jamie Jensen
Alexandra Rising is a great album. It has a variety of sounds, instrumentally and vocally. The ballads and upbeat songs are both very good. The lyrics are beautiful, poetic, and sometimes raw. After I listened to this CD, I didn't want to listen to anything else for a while. I'm not familiar with the artists that other reviewers have compared Alexandra Rising to, but perhaps I should be!
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Ambivalence never sounded so good
author: Ronda D
Alexandra Rising's own sultry style emerges through the whispers of Depeche Mode, Hedwig, Jill Tracy, and many artists, Her songs reach out and into the spirit, because they are being sung to you. Her lyrics are evocative, truthful, and seasoned with the wry introspection that lingers between human and otherworldly. She is who she is and she will not apologize for it, nor should she.
For those who have kept up with her myspace, the transformation of the silverscreen version of Fangs to the album promise transformations well worth following. Also, if you find she is performing near you, she has a presence that one must see to fathom. She is very real, and so is the depth of her consciousness and beauty.
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