Leona Naess 'Thirteens' album

Thirteens, the fourth album from Leona Naess (first on Verve Forecast), is one of mixed emotions – a “mixed tape” of sorts. The songs of mourning, realization, muted joy, and true giddiness were taken from more than 13 albums worth of songs Naess composed during a timeafter her father’s unexpected death in 2004. The variety of moods and lo-fi production perfectly compliment Naess’ soft, misty voice on tracks such as “Leave Your Boyfriends Behind” and “Learning As We Go.” Naess will open for Ray LaMontagne on 26 dates throughout the fall. Full tour schedule to be announced.

biography
At the age of 18, Naess moved to New York City to study music at New York University, she later switched her major, receiving a degree in anthropology. A resident of Greenwich Village, she began performing with her guitar at open mikes and was soon performing regularly in coffeehouses, bars and clubs like The Bitter End around Lower Manhattan, even busking at times. A friend, who was an intern at Sony Records, invited an executive to see Naess perform. Soon, a number of record companies were interested in signing her. She signed with producer Scott Litt's record label, Outpost Records, at the age of 22, shortly after graduating from NYU.

Naess began work on her first album in 1998. It was completed in June 1999. A series of business mergers postponed the album, meanwhile the Outpost label went out of business. The head of MCA Records, another division of the Universal Music Group of which Outpost had become part of, brought her contract over to MCA. Naess's first album, Comatised, was released in March 2000. Naess continued to develop as a performer during the delays. Comatised produced the single "Charm Attack" (which was also featured in the teen comedy film Whatever It Takes) and the song "Lazy Days". She appeared as a model for Calvin Klein prior to the release of the album. Naess soon released her second album, I Tried to Rock You But You Only Roll (2001), produced by Swedish producer Martin Terefe.

In 2002, Naess recorded backing vocals on Counting Crows album Hard Candy, primarily on the song "Black and Blue". She signed with Geffen Records and released her third album, Leona Naess (2003), produced by Ethan Johns. The album was a new direction for Naess with its stripped-down instrumentation. A song from this album, "Ballerina", appeared in the first season of the Showtime program, Weeds (2005), in the episode entitled "Dead in the Nethers". Another song from her third album, "Christmas", also appeared in The O.C. on the episode, "The Debut", and the soundtrack Music from the OC: Mix 3. In 2004, her song "Calling" was featured on the soundtrack to Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.

Naess has toured with Eagle-Eye Cherry, David Gray, The Barenaked Ladies, Travis, Ryan Adams, Emm Gryner, Hem, Josh Rouse, Ben Lee, Badly Drawn Boy and Ray Lamontagne.

In 2007, Naess worked on a fourth album, Thirteens, which has had delays, but will be released on September 23, 2008 by Verve Forecast Records. The title refers to thirteen lo-fi home-recorded albums that Naess has created over approximately the last two years. A single, "Heavy Like Sunday", was released on June 2, 2008 on Blue Flowers Records. Copies of the 7" vinyl single include a Polaroid picture taken by Naess. Naess will also be featured on the forthcoming Ray LaMontagne album, Gossip in the Grain (2008), on the songs "A Falling Through" and "I Still Care for You", and will tour with LaMontagne in late-2008.

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Tracklisting

Leona Naess - Thirteens