Last December, the Grammy-nominated roots rock duo Larkin Poe teamed up with the innovative hybrid orchestra Nu Deco Ensemble for a special collaborative livestream show from the Miami Beach Bandshell. It represented Larkin Poe’s first show in support of their critically acclaimed album ‘Self Made Man’, which reached #1 on the UK’s Independent and Americana Albums charts, and on Billboard’s Blues Albums chart.
Larkin Poe & Nu Deco Ensemble document the remarkable event in the album ‘Paint The Roses: Live In Concert’, which will be released on September 17th. They launch the album by sharing its lead track ‘Every Bird That Flies’. Listen HERE.
Originally a sombre, swampy bluesy song, this new version of ‘Every Bird That Flies’ is reinvigorated with the sweeping orchestration of the Nu Deco Ensemble. Together, they build the slowburner skywards escalating the hushed opening ambience into a full-blooded crescendo. Rebecca Lovell’s voice rises to a towering peak, her sister Meghan’s harmonies take on a hymnal quality, and the Nu Deco Ensemble boldly hold back the full majesty of their sweeping strings to maximise the drama of the song’s finale. The performance can also be seen in the live video for the track.
The multi-instrumental Nashville-
Sam Hyken (Nu Deco Ensemble) adds, “Working with Megan and Rebecca has been the definition of an ideal collaboration as they are a perfect mix of incredible talent, tenacity, warmth and humility. Arranging their genius music for this performance with Nu Deco was an honor and felt completely organic, especially for our very first Roots Rock collaboration in our 7 year history. Larkin Poe and Nu Deco have come together to create something beautiful, nuanced, and truly epic.
Every Bird that Flies was a song that both Jacomo and I immediately knew had to be a part of this collaboration. One of my favorite moments of production week with Larkin Poe was watching Rebecca and Megan’s faces when they first heard how massive the lap steel solo section of this combined with orchestra.”