Have you heard of Al Olender? She might be your new favorite songwriter. Below, we’ve copy and pasted her recent e-mail blast to share her first full length.
“When I was a kid, my brother would call me down from my room and make me play a song for all of his friends who had come over to illegally drink beer and probably not hangout with his teenage sister. I can really see him clearly, with his elbows on the stairs shouting up to my room, chewing on a toothpick and shushing all his friends, “Listen listen listen Al is gonna be big you guys, Al is gonna be BIG.” I know he was my brother, but Keith took a chance on me. He gave me room and space to mess up and try to sing and play even though no one in our family knew how to sing and play.
Easy Crier is out for you today to listen to. My first full-length solo album. Oh it feels so good to write that and it be real. And it all adds up because James took a chance on me too. He listened to every song over and over in our living room & on bike rides & at the dinner table & while he tried to watch TV. He perfected the best lines with his beautiful words, played all his instruments, produced, engineered, fed me, drove me to the studio, told me the songs were worth singing-he made the time and space for me to play. There’s no better person to love than James Felice.
Want to know something true? I didn’t think I was lovable for a long time. Lied too much, moved too often, avoided too many conversations, made mistakes I couldn’t say sorry enough for or chose not to. Biggest lie I sometimes said out loud was “I don’t cry.” And it doesn’t seem like an exact moment but every day leading up to recording these songs felt like a mirror being wiped clean where I saw myself a little clearer. Easy Crier, that’s me. Maybe that’s you too. Lovable and flawed and growing and saying too much all the time (thank you therapy!).
I am incredibly grateful to every single person who worked on this record: musicians and artists and family and friends and new team of brilliant kind folks and Ian & his gorgeous family for having me at The Church. Would you believe me if I told you that you can listen right now? Or that my tour starts TODAY(how? how? I am so excited my heart my heart!)!
With love,
Al”
Listen here:
