''Manzanita'' is the third studio album by American musician

Shana Cleveland Shana Cleveland is an American musician, writer, and visual artist based in Los Angeles, California. Best known as the lead guitarist and vocalist for surf rock band La Luz, Cleveland was previously a member of The Curious Mystery, and has als ...

, released on March 10, 2023, through Hardly Art. Cleveland wrote the album while pregnant, which altered the topics in her lyrics. It received acclaim from critics.

Background

Cleveland wrote most of the material while pregnant with her son, Ozzy, and stated that she felt "becoming a mother resulted in a completely new terrain of emotions" that she wrote the lyrics around. She also said: "You're not going to dance to the songs on ''Manzanita''. You will go on a journey in your mind, if you're feeling comfortable."

Critical reception

''Manzanita'' received a score of 90 out of 100 on review aggregator

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

based on five critics' reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Fred Thomas of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

called the album "some of leveland'smost low-key and slowly blooming material to date, fleshing out softly flickering folk tunes with understated orchestral arrangements" and "as much an atmosphere as it is an artistic statement, casting a friendly-if-stormy spell on the listener for its 14-track duration and then fading into the mist". Reviewing the album for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', Michael Hann summed it as up "baroque psychedelia mingles with west coast

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and

gothic folk Neofolk, also known as apocalyptic folk, is a form of experimental music blending elements of folk and industrial music, which emerged in punk rock circles in the 1980s. Neofolk may either be solely acoustic or combine acoustic folk instrumenta ...

", further describing it as "utterly transfixing – not just for the gorgeousness of the tone, but for the absolute wondrousness of the melodies". Robin Murray of '' Clash'' stated that the album has "a stunning, other-worldly charm" and is "laden with surprises", summarizing it as "a lush yet spartan song cycle that moves from lysergic folk to baroque aspects, all held together by West Coast sunsets and the lingering touch of her family". ''

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'' felt that "''Manzanita'' mostly shimmers obliquely with light and spells", while ''

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'' stated that "though Cleveland's delivery is generally far more subdued, ''Manzanita'' shares a similarly transportative, anciently psychedelic feel with The Incredible String Band's magical '60s work".

Track listing

References

{{Authority control 2023 albums Albums produced by Shana Cleveland Hardly Art albums Shana Cleveland albums