The Beauty of Living

Alina was born in the Ukraine and came to America at the age of two as a political refugee after her father was blacklisted by the KGB. She grew up in suburbia and later attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston where she studied photography. One day she saw Mary Lou Lord playing in the Boston subway and had an epiphany that she should try public performance. This was a big deal because Alina suffered from glossophobia or "stage fright". With the newfound inspiration she was able to overcome her fears and began street performing after moving to Austin Texas -- a triumphant start to a promising musical career.

The past year was a rich in experience for Alina. She toured Europe with her side project The Artificial Sea and contributed a new track to the "Folk Music for the End of the World" compilation. The Durham NC Arts Council awarded her a grant to pursue a cover album in tribute to the Russian punk-folk singer Yanka Dyagileva. Simone's previous work, Prettier in the Dark, received critical acclaim from The New Yorker, Magnet and Pitchfork. In most recent news, Alina signed with 54-50 or Fight! who will release her long awaited full length album, Placelessness, due out in June 2007.

Joined by Gerhart Fuchs (drums), Jon Petrow (bass,guitar,violin), Chris Barrey (farfisa organ,guitar,piano), and Bryan Bruchman (guitar), Alina's voice is haunting and intoxicating and full of sullen playfulness like Bjork, Scout Nibblett or Cat Power. The songs on Placelessness are introspective, melody-driven tales of tragedy and hope executed through an extraordinary emotive vocal presence and minimalist instrumentation. We think it’s a perfect soundtrack for an introspective rainy day or those last miles before journeys end.

With a number of accomplishments in the past year, it is certain that Alina's poetic and captivating songs will continue to accelerate her presence in the indie world one listener at a time.

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By Em Brownlowe + Church of Girl
Published 08. April. 2007

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Powerfully Etherial

Alina Simone is a Ukrainian-born, Massachusetts- bred and New York City-based songwriter who has created quite a stir with her minimalist approach to making great music. It is truly just her and her guitar, with a little cello thrown in at key moments “for dramatic effect”.

Her voice has been compared to Chan Marshall (Cat Power), Bjork, and Sinead O’Connor. Like these artists, her voice is undeniably addictive, her delivery charismatic and indifferent, provoking and inciting yet soothing.

The 5 songs on her EP, “Prettier in the Dark” are introspective, guitar-driven stories filled with small details from her life. She prefers to stick to the ordinary because as she says "you can have these moments of epiphany during a totally ordinary moment”. We expect to hear many epiphanies from her in the future.

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