Shannon Lay Releases New Songs “Awaken and Allow” and “Geist”

Shannon Lay has announced a new album, Geist, and shared two songs from it, “Awaken and Allow” and title track “Geist,” via a joint video. Geist is due out October 8 via Sub Pop. Kai Macknight directed the video.

Geist includes “Rare to Awake,” a new song Lay shared in May. Lay had this to say about the new songs in a press release: “‘Awaken and Allow’ is a prayer and a promise. A quiet moment to reflect on transformation and what it means to me. California represents my comfort zone and in this song, I am urging myself and everyone listening to move out of their comfort zone in order to push ourselves to grow and evolve. We are all in a constant state of change and the way we can learn to move and flow with that change completely elevates our experience with it. The most amazing thing we can do for ourselves is to recognize where and how we are standing in our own way and move aside. ‘Awaken and Allow’ your greatness to emerge.”

The initial vocals and guitar for the album were recorded by Lay at Jarvis Tavinere of Woods’s studio. Then various others worked on the songs from there: multi-instrumentalists Ben Boye (Bonnie Prince Billy, Ty Segall) in Los Angeles and Devin Hoff (Sharon Van Etten, Cibo Matto) in New York, Sofia Arreguin (Wand), and Aaron Otheim (Heatwarmer, Mega Bog) added additional keys, and then Ty Segall did a guitar solo on “Shores.”

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