Living in the world of fantasy books as a child and then combining it with music can produce results that are usually never in the middle ground. Either they are something quite extraordinary or they turn out to be practically unlistenable.
Minneapolis artist Rachel Lime went through that process, but she adds yet another element to this equation, and that is her Korean heritage.
“I guess being adopted and being from a place that was so distant, and growing up in a place where I felt very alienated and strange, even though I was pretty much like everyone else in terms of cultural things,” says Rachel, “I think that is definitely a big part of my artistic voice, where I guess it’s just this sense of alienation and search for belonging. All of the songs that I make and all of the stuff I create are all about that search for something, somewhere else.”
Listening to her album A.U., which as she says stands for an alternate universe, you get the feeling that her music really expresses her words. Lime occupies the ground somewhere between Kate Bush and Bjork with the added elements of Korean scales throughout the album, creating exactly an alternate universe.
But that universe is neither Bush nor Bjork, but uniquely Rachel Lime. It seems that at the moment, very few artists are making music so specific, and so alternate if you will. One of the rare names that come to mind in that respect is Solange.
A.U. might be alternate, but it is definitely a universe that needs exploring.
