Steven Sedalia is a singer-songwriter forging a folk fusion sound melting mystical ambience with acoustic anthems. Unique for his ‘outro’ refrains, the reverent and memorable chants inspire a sing-along fervor in live audiences. Themes of soul exploration and mythical adventure set the tone for wide-eyed love songs edging toward devotionals. Sedalia's bright voice and grounding guitar give foundation to an emotionally nourishing mixture of sound and poetry, culminating in an ecstatic celebration of universal love.
A follow-up project to his full length album Mauna (2019), this new collection, The Original Giver (2021), takes on a more ethereal tone with atmospheric synths and cosmic voices. Organic acoustic instruments provide the spine to ecstatic vocals, waves of celestial sounds, and wet tambourines. Five tracks dripping in tones of the early universe tell a story of Sound as the animating force behind Creation.
Speaking of the album, Steven says, “The Original Giver is the personification of Sound as the Creator. The record is a cosmology of the soul. It is as archetypal as it is real. It is as metaphysical as it is physical. It is as personal as it is universal. It means to recognize the Creator as imminent in all of Creation, and through this acknowledgement, humbly commit to carry on the responsibility of creation through loving action.”
Like all of Sedalia’s projects, this new EP is a story of intertwining tales that all relate to one another chronologically and holistically. (1) The Original Giver tells of the first breath that sparked the stars and through the voice lit up the void. (2) The Potter tells of the Creatress who made matter tangible and designed the earth by mixing the elements and molding the shapes. (3) Footprints honors the ancestral line of life that gave birth to us from the beginning to now that is always guiding us. (4) O Creator emphatically declares that the creative instinct that called forth the entire world is within us and the act of creation continues through our loving action. (5) Constellations weaves the web that connects it all together, the human family aligned with the sound, the stars, and the creed “the love inside of you is the love inside of me.”
To listen to The Original Giver, visit Steven Sedalia’s official website.