Red Steppes

red steppes’ debut "A Mouth May Grow" was rooted firmly in the topography of California; her sophomore release "Arcs" (Native Cat Recordings) is the fruit of a series of displacements, disturbances, and reorientations. Stylistically diverse, the album delivers minimalist guitar pop, mathy folk, and even a Peter Gabriel-tinged meditation on loss, finding equilibrium in songwriter Nika Aila States’ intimate vocals. Arcs is plush with the kind of photographic lyricism States began exploring with A Mouth May Grow; songs fondly addressed to lovers are mindful of an inevitable transience, lullabies keep account both of the world’s smallest gestures and its great ruins, and a series of scenes unfold as a prayer of sustenance, a knowing salutation aimed at fellow travelers and sailors-by-the-wind. Fans of Nick Drake and Joanna Newsom will enjoy the nuance and intimacy of her live performances.