Artist: Mia Doi Todd
Album: “Songbook”
Digital Release Date: May 20, 2016
CD Release Date: August 22, 2016
Record Label: City Zen Records
Distributor: Virtual Label
After releasing “Floresta”, an album of Brazilian songs recorded in São Paulo, Mia Doi Todd decided to stay closer to her Los Angeles home and started work on a collection of cover songs in English. The result is “Songbook,” Mia’s second album consisting exclusively of songs written by other artists. “Songbook” was produced, recorded and mixed by Mia and her husband, Jesse Peterson, with engineering assistance from Money Mark (Beastie Boys). It features many talented musicians who call LA home, including John Herndon (Tortoise) and Alberto López (Jungle Fire, Quetzal) on drums and percussion, Gabe Noel on bass, Jimmy Tamborello (Dntel, Postal Service) on electronics, Money Mark on keyboards and Sam Gendel (Inga) on saxophone.
“Songbook” gave Mia the opportunity to pay homage to some of the greatest English-language songwriters of the 20th Century. The selections include several songs that Mia has been performing live for many years, such as Sandy Denny’s “Who Knows Where the Time Goes?” and Neil Young’s “Only Love Can Break Your Heart,” reimagined for an intimate but cosmopolitan combo. A few more are enduring favorites from her childhood, like The Cure’s “Close to Me,” Prince’s “When Doves Cry” and “Pancho and Lefty” by Townes Van Zandt. The TV On The Radio track, “Careful You,” is the newest of the bunch, which Mia first heard live in concert at LA’s Mayan Theater, followed by “Between the Bars” by Elliott Smith, a legendary transplant to the Los Angeles scene with whom Mia had the pleasure of sharing the stage. The collection of songs is unified by Mia’s delicate voice and thoughtful sensibility and by her strong emotional connection to each finely-crafted song.
1. Neil Young – “Only Love Can Break Your Heart”
2. The Cure – “Close To Me”
3. Prince “When Doves Cry”
4. Elliott Smith – “Between the Bars”
5. Sandy Denny – “Who Knows Where the Time Goes?”
6. TV on the Radio – “Careful You”
7. Ned Doheny – “A Love of Your Own”
8. Townes Van Zandt – “Pancho & Lefty”
9. Joni Mitchell – “The Circle Game”
10. Sachiko Kanenobu – “Anata Kara Toku e”