One foot in front of the other. That’s the process Americana folkers South For Winter have embraced as they’ve walked out one track after another of their upcoming album Luxumbra. Six pre-release singles in all.
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First debuting the song “Twine” all the way back in April of 2019, they followed that up with “Ten Black Crows,” “All We Have,” and “Devil Is A’ Calling.” In early July of this year, the trio trotted out one more in “All Is You.” Not quite the way they did it in the old days but then again, these days ain’t the old days are they?
Now, it’s time for “Stone” to step into the spotlight but before we get to the song, we should probably introduce the band.
It was 2014 when New Zealand musician Nick Stone and Colorado singer-songwriter Dani Cichon (now Dani Stone) met as volunteers building greenhouses in the Andes Mountains and it was there, on a Peruvian rooftop, where the two wrote their first song together. After years spent pursuing separate music projects on opposite sides of the world, Stone and Cichon moved to Nashville in 2017 and formed a duo under the name South For Winter. Two soon became three when they met Alex Stradal, a classically-trained cellist who rounded out the eclectic blend of instrumentation and vocals that has since become so characteristic of their music.
Not wanting to wait, the three took their folk, blues, jazzy classical combination on tour throughout North America. Laden with delicate harmonies, intricate guitar-work and earthy vocals as their signature, their impeccable sound survived the jump from stage to studio and was captured for the masses on the 2018 EP How the Mountain. More touring and more writing followed until 2019 when they went back into the studio to record their debut album. Then this March, just before the Covid got its grips on the world, they successfully crowdfunded the album’s upcoming independent release. Now as they await the October release of Luxumbra, they offer one more glimpse into what the album beholds.
“Stone” is the continuation of a storyline; part two of our first album single, “Twine” explains Dani. “Twine” is the love story of a beaver and a sparrow, ending with the beaver letting the sparrow go while knowing that stability isn’t what a bird longs for. “Stone,” on the other hand, is about waiting for the one you love to come back to you – and feeling like the world is turning around you, yet you’re frozen in time. The last guitar lick of “Stone” is actually the first guitar part of “Twine”
To complete the circle of sound, Dani notes the songs will serve as the album’s bookends. That same guitar lick will both open and close the album as “Twine” will be the first song and Stone will be the last.
“Stone” really came to life in the studio with our drummer/percussionist, Chris Kearney. He brought out all of these world music instruments – including udu, tabla, djembe, congas, and bongos – and created this beautiful atmosphere that amazed all of us (including him!). It became the perfect contrast to the dark and bluesy murder ballads featured on the album and helped us create the yin-yang balance alluded to with the album’s name Luxumbra (Latin for ‘light’ and ‘shadow’).”
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