We were latecomers to Vera Sola's stunning 2018 debut LP Shades, an entrancing and immersive collection of sweeping, haunted folk mini-epics that we haven't been able to shake over the past week, so it goes without saying that we're extremely psyched to premiere her gorgeous new single here today. "Crooked Houses" is a hushed, heartbreaking lament that is utterly captivating in its pure starkness, the curtains drawn back, and the spotlight never wavering from Vera Sola's powerfully mesmeric voice and elegant poetic phrasing. It's more intimate and a tinge less ominously gothic than sprawling LP highlights like "The Cage" or "The Colony", but the effect is no less cinematic, and perhaps even more devastating. Vera tells us about the new approach she took for this one:

"The recording process here was an entirely new approach for me. I resisted the temptation to bury perceived imperfections in a soundscape, or veil myself in many layers of harmony. It’s all very bare.

It was also the first time I’d ever had another person play on my recorded songs (till this point I’d been the only one playing on my recordings). That’s vastly different than just doing it myself. It opens up whole new possibilities, as well as new challenges. It’s fitting, because in retrospect, the recording process and sparse arrangement ultimately reflects what the song’s about — the anxiety of new things, of vulnerability, as well as the balance of risk and reward when opening up to another."

Listen to "Crooked Houses", and check out a couple more polaroids by Damon Duke, below. Vera Sola starts a huge world tour next week in Paris; find those dates below as well:

VERA SOLA
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09 Apr - Paris, FR @ Point Ephemere - Supporting Jessica Pratt
10 Apr - Turin, IT @ Blah Blah
11 Apr - Varese, It @ Twiggy Cafe
12 Apr - Zermatt, CH @ The Cavern, Zermatt Unplugged
13 Apr - Zermatt, CH @ Taste Village, Zermatt Unplugged
14 Apr - Dresden, DE @ Beatpol Festival
15 Apr - Jena, DE @ Trafo
16 Apr - Berlin, DE @ The Monarch
17 Apr - Stans, CH @ Pillow Soft Loft
19 Apr - Colmar, FR @ Le Grillen
20 Apr - Grenoble, FR @ La Bonin
21 Apr - Offenbach, DE @ Hafen 2
23 Apr - Manchester @ The Castle
24 Apr - London @ The Lexington
26 Apr - Oupeye, BE @ Houtain Festival
27 Apr - Diksmuide, BE @ Le Nuits Festival
30 Apr - Haarlem, NL @ Patronaat
01 May - Arlon, BE @ Les Aralunaires Festival

09 May – Nashville, TN *
10 May- Atlanta, GA *
11 May – Durham, NC *
12 May – Washington, DC *
13 May – Richmond, VA *
15 May – Philadelphia, PA *
18 May – New York, NY *
19 May – Cambridge, MA *
21 May – Montreal, QC *
22 May – Ottawa, ON *
25 May – Grand Rapids, MI *
27 May – Chicago, IL *
29 May – Minneapolis, MN *
31 May – Denver, CO *
01 Jun – Salt Lake City, UT *
24 Jun – San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop
25 Jun – Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo