RADAR REDUX: Snowbird

Some collaborations might be termed a match made in heaven, but few actually sound so angelic that you might think the whole creative process was actually made beyond those pearly gates. Snowbird, a partnership on a number of levels between Wisconsin singer/songwriter Stephanie Dosen and former Cocteau Twin Simon Raymonde, is such a pairing. The relationship began a few years ago when Dosen sent off her Nashville-recorded second album to Raymonde at his co-founded (and finely-tuned) U.K. Bella Union label. Raymonde fell in love with Dosen's sweetly ethereal voice and lush, romantic songwriting, ending up in what he describes as "sticking loads of me" on the album's final production. The result was the swooningly beautiful A Lily for the Spectre, released in the U.K. to glowing reviews but no U.S. release (where have we heard that tale before?). We fell hard, too, calling it "a sweet haze of gentle pop melodies and quiet passions." (Video sample here).

Midway through the creation of her forthcoming third album with Raymonde, the two decided to expand their work together (it's not called Bella Union for nothing, apparently) and Snowbird was formed. Dosen, by then sadly deported back to the U.S., traded recordings back and forth with Raymonde and then joined her partner in London for a few, hastily rehearsed shows. Not surprisingly, the music of Snowbird centers on Dosen's luminously expressive singing and elegant songs that radiate with a fairy tale charm and finely honed, resplendent melodies light enough to vanish into thin air. No release date set, but we'll be looking for Snowbird's debut as well as Dosen's new solo album in 2011. Update: Listen to the version of Pink Floyd's "Goodbye Blue Sky" from MOJO mag's multi-artist collection The Wall: Rebuilt.

Myspace  Stephanie Dosen Myspace

Snowbird - "Where Foxes Hide" (from the forthcoming Snowbird debut album)

Snowbird - "Goodbye Blue Sky" (from MOJO Magazine's The Wall: Rebuilt)