February 4, 2016 (8pm)
Bowery Ballroom   |   6 Delancey Street NYC

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General Admission (standing): $15

The Bowery Ballroom Presents: Emily Wells with Metropolis Ensemble in "Promise": A Soul Record in Baroque Clothing

Join members of Metropolis Ensemble on Thursday, February 4 as we perform alongside Emily Wells and present the world premiere of all-new arrangements of Wells' music by composer Ryan Francis. Emily Wells, praised by NPR as a "one woman with the force of a band," is a classically trained violinist, composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist who builds a cocoon of layered and looped sounds live and on record completely analog--no computers in sight. In addition to violin she plays viola, drums, synth, guitar and bass on the album alongside friends who guest on everything from vibraphone to French horn.

Emily Wells has been hailed for her multi-instrumental ambidexterity, a symphonic embroidering of swirling strings, ingenious electronics, and intricate, irresistible beats, sewn together with celestial vocals and deeply personal song-craft. Her new Mama Acoustic Recordings, out June 11th, sees the NYC-based singer/musician/producer casting it all aside, re-imagining songs first heard on 2012’s acclaimed Partisan Records debut, Mama . Where that collection was marked by Wells‘ extraordinary fusion of hip hop, experimental dance music, lyrical introspection, and classical complexity, the new album is stunningly austere, recorded solely with voice and guitar. Songs like “Dirty Sneakers” refract the singer and songwriter in a fresh light, illuminating altered emotional perspectives and melodic colors. With Mama Acoustic Recordings, Emily Wells has stripped off her own armor, leaving only her crystalline voice and equally unambiguous songwriting on display.

The New Yorker praises Wells' "moving voice and boundless imagination" while The Guardian UK compliments her ability to "merge different styles at will and create accessible tunes even - or especially - when they're weirdly melodic, or melodically weird." She has collaborated with hip hop producer Dan the Automator and as a composer she contributed to the soundtrack and score for Park Chan-Wook's Stoker and scored Here Is Something Beautiful.

Over a 6 month period, Metropolis Ensemble composer Ryan Francis collaborated with Wells to compose live string arrangements for "Promise" in anticipation of her forthcoming national tour.

While composing her new LP 'Promise,' Emily Wells read Joan Didion, ran to Drake and projected Pina Bausch films onto her studio's walls. The repetitive, agonistic and emotional nature of the dancer's work is akin to Wells' practice of building on layers of repetition, disrupting, then building again. Recording it she spent 12-hour stretches holed up alone in her studio over the course of two cathartic years, her patience inspired by light artist James Turrell's quote, "Not everyone will sit in a darkened room for ten minutes before they begin to see."

The resulting 11 original songs, out January 29 on her newly minted label Thesis & Instinct, are a meditation on Wells' life and world view deeply nourished by art and literature. A soul record in baroque clothing, 'Promise' reflects on friendship, risk and desire. The cover and title are derived from the installation "Promesa" by Cabella/Carceller, an interdisciplinary collaborative pair of Spanish artists, who lent Wells the work after she discovered it in the book Art and Queer Culture by Catherine Lord and Richard Meyer.

Buy the album on iTunes

Performers

Emily Wells Performer	Kristin Lee Violin / Concertmaster	Siwoo Kim Violin
Caitlin Mary Lynch Viola	Madeline Fayette Cello	Kris Saebo Bass

The Composers

Ryan Francis Composer