La Strada - New Home

After initially being bothered that an Indie band stole Federico Fellini’s movie name, I actually felt the title was a good fit. Like many other collaborative bands like Arcade Fire and Of Montreal, the young group La Strada has a sound that can only be mastered with seven musicians. In their music, they combine a broad variety of strings (violin, viola, cello) with sweet sounding instruments like the accordion. This combination of instruments gives the band its mystic, indie sound. Their newest Album New Home includes simple songs like "Julia" that focus on vocals and others like "Mean That Much" that are much more extensive in sound. A common thread for the entire album is the strings, which create a beautiful atmospheric background for every song. One of the most memorable pieces is "The Wedding Song", which initiates with a simple acoustic strumming and soft vocals, but as it continues, it becomes more charged with accordion and violin melodies. The song evolves from a pretty folk song to a powerful poignant tune. This is exactly what makes the band so powerful, its ability to transform a typical sweet folk song into something new. This band is on the road to something good.