Song of the Day: Alison Shearer - Celestial

New York-based saxophonist and composer Alison Shearer has announced her debut LP, View From Above, alongside the release of the lead single Celestial.

Alison Shearer’s debut album makes a statement. A statement about loss, and struggle, and the restorative power of music. Written soon after the passing of her father, famed photojournalist John Shearer, View From Above transports the listener to that liminal space between sky and earth, where the light shimmers and mundane matters seem small and far away.

Celestial is an ode to the divine inspiration I felt while composing the music for this project. The song plays with superimposed time signatures, and the jagged rhythmic edges evoke an almost kaleidoscopic feel. Simple melody lines are passed around between instruments, and the whole song has a lightness to it that is refreshing. This was my favorite tune to compose on the album and it came to me in a flood of inspiration over a period of about 48 hours. Magic!, says Alison.

Listen to Alison Shearer new single Celestial, from her forthcoming debut album View From Above:

In 2015 Alison decided to start her own group—a fusion quartet featuring her own compositions, performance, and leadership. Four years in—after refining her sound through key gigs with the quartet and as a side musician with artists as disparate as rappers Big Daddy Kane and Pharoahe Monch, indie songwriter Ana Egge, jazz trumpeter Wayne Tucker (Dizzy’s), and drummer Sunny Jain (with his bhangra band, Red Baraat)—Alison knew it was time to step out as a recording artist under her own name. The death of her father to cancer in 2019 only heightened her desire to create—as a musician with a striking, distinctive voice.

Losing my dad almost killed me, Alison admits. But out of that pain came this beautiful album.

Watch below Alison Shearer new single Celestial, from her forthcoming debut album View From Above: