Fans of LA’s Arden & The Wolves will already be familiar with their holiday song, Mary Did You Know. Now the band is broadening their horizons with Pai Nosso. The song, which is the “Our Father” in Portuguese, was inspired by Arden Leigh’s experience at an ayahuasca ceremony and the works of Brazilian artist Gabriel Guedes de Almeida as well as the styles of Lingua Ignota and Ethel Cain, mixing elements of both chamber music and dreampop.
This is Arden’s first release on which she plays piano. According to Arden, “I went to a Catholic high school on a music scholarship, so arranging the vocal harmonies and learning the song on piano felt like a throwback to my high school years. I think more of my history is reflected in the sound of the recording than I could have anticipated when I set out to make it, like I unearthed the part of my 16-year-old self escaping to the music practice rooms at lunch period and invited her to record in studio with me as an adult. I was happy to meet with her again.”
“I chose to cover this song because I had occasion to pray and this is the best way I know how to do it… I think it will fit in on many people’s holiday playlists alongside darker traditional carols like O Holy Night and Carol of the Bells“.
“While it’s not strictly a Christmas song, the religious elements and cozy chamber feel to it made me feel called to release it for the holidays.”
-Arden LEIGH
Listeners should take note of the “dark, cathedral-like” tone of the piece; as it is meant to “express the serious, hallowed, vast, holy nature of the experience of ceremony.”
In closing, she adds, “While it’s not strictly a Christmas song, the religious elements and cozy chamber feel to it made me feel called to release it for the holidays.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
https://music.apple.com/us/album/pai-nosso-single/1656284618